Tags – Don’t Have Enough Bone for Dental Implants
If you’re missing teeth and don’t have enough bone for dental implants, what are your options?
Many people mistakenly believe that they don’t have any other choice but to live with missing teeth.
This is simply not true! If you have to lose a tooth, it’s critical to prevent bone loss. And dental implants protect your jawbone and slow down the natural shrinkage that comes with missing teeth.
However, there must be enough bone to support the implant for it to be successful. If you don’t have enough bone for traditional dental implants, there are a number of alternative implant procedures that can be performed.
In this blog post, we will discuss the various options available to you if you don’t have enough bone for dental implants.
1. Bone Grafting
The technique of adding bone or bonelike substances to the jaw is called grafting. Your own bone is an excellent choice for a bone transplant. Most likely, this will come from your chin or ramus (the rear portion of your lower jaw).
This procedure stimulates new bone cell development, which should result in enough healthy bone to support your implant. The implant and bone graft are placed together if the recipient doesn’t have enough bone.
2. Sinus Lift
This procedure widens the space between your upper and lower jaws by filling part of your maxillary sinus with bone. The maxillary sinus is a cavity that extends above your jaw, just in front of the back teeth on either side of your nose. This usually occurs when the upper jaw’s rear portion lacks sufficient bone to allow implants to be placed.
3. Distraction Osteogenesis
“Distraction” is the procedure of dividing the two bones. The formation of new bones is referred to as “osteogenesis.” Distraction osteogenesis is more frequently used to create a taller jawbone, but it may also be utilized to increase the bone in any direction. This method will be used most frequently to extend a bone that is too short.
A surgeon uses saws or lasers to cut into your jawbone, separating a portion of it from the rest of the jaw. The separated piece of bone is held apart from the remainder of the jawbone using a titanium device with pins or screws.
Each day, you remove a little bit of the device, then over time, this increases the distance between the section of bone and the jawbone. With each passing day, bone grows in between the sections.
Dental Implant Procedure
Dental implant surgery is generally done under local anesthetics (numbing the area where the implant will be placed) and is a relatively pain-free procedure.
There may be some minor vibration during the implant (bone) site preparation, but it should be quite bearable. Because there are no open wounds after implant surgery and it is minimally invasive, there is little pain after the operation.
Sometimes, you will be prescribed a course of antibiotics to take at home and use for the next seven days.
A single implant generally has to be left for two to four months to fuse with the bone before a crown can be attached. The healing period will differ from person to person, but it is ultimately determined by the bone density at the site of the missing tooth; the more dense the bone, the faster it heals.
The next step is to create a crown that looks and functions like a real tooth and sits over the implant.
Summing Up
If you don’t have enough bone for dental implants, there are still a number of options available to you. Bone grafting, sinus lifts, and distraction osteogenesis are all viable alternatives that can give you the smile you’ve always wanted.
The decision to get dental implants is a big one. Not only do they require a significant financial investment, but also a good amount of time and commitment.
However, if you’re missing teeth, dental implants are definitely worth considering. They offer many benefits over other tooth replacement options, such as bridges and dentures.
Dental implants look and feel like your own teeth, and with proper care, they can last a lifetime!
Please contact us today to find out more.
In the meantime, take a look at our dental implant treatment here.
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