Bone Grafting

If you have a tooth missing, or perhaps more than one, getting a dental implant might be right for you. When you are interested in a dental implant, you have to be a good candidate. This requires you have enough bone to hold and support a dental implant. Those who don’t have enough bone mass aren’t able to get a dental implant right away. The Center for Family & Implant Dentistry offers bone grafting procedures at our offices in Kingsport and Bluff City.

Adding to the Bone

A bone graft is often necessary for implants as well as other restorative treatments for teeth. When you get a graft, it adds to the bone in your jaw so that it is thick and dense enough to hold onto the post that has to be implanted. The titanium post that must be implanted needs to be well-supported. It has to fuse to the bone to have a strong anchor for the crown at the top of the implant.

As time passes, many patients will lose some of the bone density they once had in their jaws. To change this, many people can get a bone graft that adds bone from elsewhere to the jaw and allows the two to graft with each other so the bone becomes thicker. When it’s time for an implant, our team members will take X-rays of the jaw so that Dr. MacConnell can decide whether a bone graft is needed to build it up.

Different Types of Bone Grafts

Bone grafts come in three basic types, with the type that you get depending on your mouth’s specific needs. An alloplastic bone graft uses natural minerals as the material for the bone graft. An autograph is performed with bone collected from elsewhere in the patient and transferred to the jaw. An allograft is a bone graft done with bone that comes from outside the patient.

It’s common for a bone graft to be performed during the same procedure as getting a tooth extracted. If you are going to be losing a tooth, and you know you want an implant, talk to the dentist about getting a bone graft at the same time for your convenience.

Caring and Compassionate Periodontal Treatment Solutions

Getting a bone graft isn’t a lengthy procedure, and our team will ensure that you are comfortable during it. It takes less than one hour for the dentist to do your bone graft.

If you are interested in getting a dental implant but don’t have enough bone in the jaw to hold it, you might be a good candidate for a bone graft. To set up a consultation with Dr. MacConnell about a bone graft, give us a call at the Center for Family & Implant Dentistry to discuss the procedure.