After a tooth is lost due to extraction, aging or pathological changes (periodontal disease or bone processes such as granulomas, cysts or tumors), without the necessary stimulation that tooth root (or implant) delivers, the bone previously supporting the tooth will start to dissolve (atrophy). Excessive bone loss means a patient with insufficient bone height and width may not be a candidate for successful placement of dental implants, so a dental bone graft needs to be done – a procedure that reconstructs bone defects and is commonly performed prior to dental implant placement.
Jaw bone augmentation
Alveolar bone loss after tooth extraction can be horizontal or vertical. Jaw bone augmentation is a reconstructive procedure that replaces the jaw bone and is performed in the case when the width and height of the alveolar ridge or the bone density are insufficient for the installation of a dental implant. Successful dental implant placement depends on the quality and quantity of alveolar bone available in all spatial dimensions.
The augmentation procedure used for a particular graft treatment is determined by the amount lost and the remaining tissue health as well as by the location of depleted bone. It is most often performed with bone substitutes (artificial bone) in combination with own grafts (PRF, growth factors, dental block grafts). Together they have osteogenic potential, which means they improve the outcomes of regenerative procedures and promote bone regeneration/formation in maxillary and mandibular regions.
Bone augmentation techniques
Various new and improved surgical techniques have been introduced to repair severe alveolar bone defects for dental implants. The clinician should aim to achieve successful results within the shortest period of time. The ideal technique should be minimally invasive and it should exhibit less risk of complications as well as accelerate patient recovery. The surgical procedure is performed using local anaesthetic.
The most frequently used method is GBR (Guided Bone Regeneration, GBR). GBR is therapeutic modality aiming to achieve bone regeneration. A key principle of GBR is the application of barrier membranes to enhance vascularization and exclude non‐osteogenic tissues from interfering with bone regeneration. Structural stability of the membrane optimizes the healing potential by creating a space for stabilization of the blood clot which allows the regeneration process to progress and connective tissue to integrate.
Oral rehabilitation
In order to make treatment as effective as possible and to ensure better outcomes for the patient, it is important to create treatment plan. Dental prosthetist, dental surgery technician and oral surgery specialist are health profesionals involved in treatment decisions. Our practice Stomatologija i estetika is established to provide a full range of dental care, including all the benefits of digital dentistry.
Dental bone graft procedure is reliable in various maxillofacial bony defect reconstruction techniques. The process has high success rate: implant stability after jaw bone augmentation is almost equal to implant stability upon incertion within a host bone.
