Bone Grafting in Point Pleasant

Often routine dental care is enough to keep your teeth and gums healthy. In some cases, a patient's gums become infected after long periods of neglect. If left untreated, the infection could persist to the point where the bone is lost, and surgery is needed to restore your mouth to health. In these cases, your dentist may recommend bone grafting to encourage the successful restoration of your healthy gums.

Types of Bone Grafting

With any dental procedure, you should consult with your dentist to find out what is best for you to restore your oral health. For bone grafting, your dentist may refer you to a periodontist who specializes in gum disease treatment. The periodontist may recommend one of the following procedures

  • Autograft is a bone graft using a patient's bone generally from the hip or jawbone.
  • Allograft is a bone graft using bone from a human donor.
  • Xenograft is a bone graft using bone from an animal, typically a cow.
  • Alloplast is a bone graft using artificial material containing calcium, phosphorous, and hydroxylapatite.

The Procedure

Bone grafting is a procedure to help revive lost bone and tooth structure. The periodontist pulls back a portion of your gums and cleans out the infected area to encourage. After cleaning, the dental surgeon places the bone graft to work with your body's natural ability to grow new bone. The bone grafting process includes removing healthy bone from another part of your jaw or another part of your body and transplanting it to your jawbone. In some cases, an artificial bone is used to regenerate a healthy jawbone.

Patients with more severe cases of periodontal disease (gum disease) may require a bone graft before an implant can be inserted. The bone graft helps give ample strength to the jaw to provide a stable base for the implant.

Bone grafting is an excellent solution to help restore severely damaged jawbone in patients with periodontal disease. To learn more about the procedure and restoring your oral health contact your dentist today.