As you age, your bones undergo continuous remodeling. It’s a natural and healthy phenomenon that balances bone loss with bone regeneration. Certain factors can cause your bone to deteriorate quicker than the regeneration process can keep up with. In such cases, bone grafting in Nashville may be recommended.
Jawbone loss can occur for different reasons, such as tooth extractions, periodontal disease, facial trauma, dentures, and many more. Unfortunately, if the bone is left to degenerate progressively, it will become prone to fractures and breakage. Your dentist will assess the state of your jawbone and determine if you’d make a good candidate for bone grafting.
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bone grafting nashville
What Do You Need to Know About Dental Bone Grafting
What Is a Dental Bone Graft?
In a dental bone grafting procedure, your oral surgeon will incise your jaw and attach the grafts to the area. It’s usually recommended for those with gum disease or who have lost one or more teeth since they are prone to jawbone loss.
The preferred method is getting bone from your own body, like in the back of your jaw, tibia, or hip bone (autograft). An autograft is the gold standard in dental bone grafting because it promotes faster healing and helps expedite bone tissue regeneration.
What Are the Different Types of Dental Bone Grafts?
- Autografts: The bone is taken from your own body, like your jaw or hip.
- Allografts: The graft is a bone taken from a different person., usually a cadaver.
- Alloplasts: The grafting material used is synthetic such as calcium sodium phosphosilicate or calcium phosphate.
- Xenografts: This involves getting bone from a different species other than a person. Examples are coral, pig, or cow.
Who Are Ideal Candidates for Dental Bone Grafting?
Some of the reasons why your oral surgeon recommends dental bone grafting are the following:
Dental Implant Surgery
If you lost one or more teeth and are considering getting dental implants, your dentist will first assess your jawbone to see if it can support the implants. Patients with insufficient jawbones should undergo bone grafts for successful implant surgery.
Dental implants are artificial tooth roots that are embedded within your jawbone. Attached to them are dental crowns. You cannot receive them unless your jawbone is strong enough to provide a secure foundation for the implants. According to a study done in 2016, 800 patients who wanted implants were required to do bone grafting first.
Tooth Loss or Gum Disease
Why did your dentist recommend dental bone grafting when you have no plans of receiving implants? Sometimes dental bone grafting is necessary to strengthen weak portions of your jaw that have succumbed to bone loss due to tooth loss or gum disease. You must stabilize with a graft to prevent further bone loss and other complications when bone loss is already evident.
Is The Procedure Painful?
Although bone grafting involves harvesting your bone, it’s still a minor procedure. You won’t feel any pain since you will be sedated. However, it’s normal to experience mild discomfort once the anesthesia wears off. Nevertheless, the discomfort is tolerable and can be managed by taking over-the-counter pain medications.
Some patients are prescribed stronger pain medications if they undergo extensive dental work. If it’s an autograft, the recovery time may take longer, and it can also be more painful since the surgery is done in two different locations.
The recovery time should be brief since your oral surgeon will only be getting a small portion of your bone.
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Do You Have More Questions About Bone Grafting in Nashville?
Tooth loss and gum disease can wreak havoc and affect your oral health, including jawbone loss. You can preserve your oral health with a dental bone grafting procedure.
At Nashville Dental Implants, we are proud to have an exceptional group of experienced dental professionals on our staff. We offer quality dental treatments that can help restore your oral health. Contact us today for an appointment.
