When teeth are extracted, the jawbone associated with the missing teeth atrophies, or resorbs.

Often, this results in a situation where there is not enough remaining bone to allow for dental implant placement without regenerating, or re-growing, the lost bone. Today, we have the ability to regenerate bone where needed so the question is no longer, “can an implant be placed?” but rather, “what needs to be done to prepare the site prior to implant placement?”

Horizontal Bone Augmentation

When you lose your teeth, the natural healing response can result in significant bone deterioration, making the site where a tooth or teeth were lost too narrow to fit a dental implant.

But don’t fret. Our surgeons utilize the most cutting-edge technology and techniques on the market to regenerate your lost bone dimension. At your consultation for bone regeneration, Birmingham and Roseville specialists at Whole Dental Wellness will explain the procedure to you in detail. There are several tried and true ways to regrow lost bone, and the technique chosen depends on several factors that are individual to you. Sometimes our surgeons can complete the bone graft at the same time as dental implant placement, while in other cases (when there is minimal existing bone to work with) we will need to let the grafted site heal for 4-6 months prior to implant placement.

Case Study

A 65 year old female presented to a local prosthodontist noting she was unhappy with her smile and stated, “I know I need a lot of work done and now I am emotionally and financially ready.” Photographs and images of her 3D scan showed severe combination vertical and horizontal bone loss following extractions. This required both horizontal and vertical bone augmentation to allow for placement of dental implants in the correct position.

Our plan was to rebuild the lost bone, allowing future implants to be placed in the correct position. The sites were regenerated using bone graft and a titanium mesh (non-resorbable) membrane with tacks. Only five months after bone grafting, the patient’s gums are healthy and the sites are ready for implant placement. Rebuilt ridge dimension allows implants to be placed in the correct position. Cross-sectional slices of 3D scan show a tremendous gain in bone width of approximately 5 mm at all four augmented sites.

Implants were successfully placed in grafted bone in the correct position. At this stage, the patient was thrilled with the dramatically improved appearance of her smile. The after photo shows the final temporary restorations, as the patent is currently waiting to have her porcelain crowns made. It is hard to imagine the final result will look even better!