Reasons for Supplemental Procedures
If you’ve been missing teeth for a while, your jawbone may have weakened over time. When you chew and use your teeth, they send signals to the jawbone to keep it strong. Without teeth, this process doesn’t occur and the bone weakens significantly.
Dental implants require the jawbone to be strong in order to keep them in place. If implants are placed into a jaw that doesn’t have enough bone density, the implant will fail.
Goals of Supplemental Procedures
The two supplemental procedures available are aimed at making the jawbone strong again so it can support an implant. When you have a consultation with Dr. Owoc about implants, he’ll take X-ray images and scans of your jawbone to see if you need a supplemental procedure.
Supplemental Procedures
The location of your missing tooth determines which procedure you’ll need. There are two different procedures, one for the lower jaw and another for the upper jaw.
-
Bone Grafting
Bone grafting is performed when the missing tooth is on the lower jaw. This procedure involves taking a piece of bone from outside the mouth and grafting it onto the area that needs strengthening. The bone used could be from another part of your body or synthetic bone material.
-
Sinus Lift
A sinus lift is similar to bone grafting but is used for an area on the upper jaw. The upper jaw has less bone than the lower jaw to begin with, so people who lose teeth on their upper jaw often need a sinus lift.
After your supplemental procedure, you’ll need time to heal and let the bone grow stronger. It can take a couple of months for enough new bone to grow before your implant can be placed.
Contact Us For More Information
If you need supplemental procedures done before your implant can be placed, our knowledgeable staff can help. To have your questions answered, call us at 412-664-1112 or fill out our online contact form. We’ll get right back to you.