How Implants Prevent Bone Loss

Dental implants are one of the most popular solutions for tooth loss today. This treatment provides many significant benefits over traditional treatments, including greater comfort, protecting the health of your jawbone, and providing a long-term solution to tooth loss. Dental implants have a very high rate of success. Much of their success, though, relies on the jawbone. If you do not have enough bone mass in your jaw, the stability of your implants may be compromised. At Fairmount Dental Center, we can help to increase the success of dental implant treatment with a ridge augmentation.

Your Teeth and Your Jawbone

Your teeth play many important roles in your mouth. One of the lesser known roles is how your teeth keep your jawbone strong and healthy. When you chew, the roots stimulate the bone. This stimulation lets your body know that essential nutrients are needed. Following tooth loss, your jawbone loses the stimulation from your missing teeth. This lack of stimulation leads to fewer nutrients being sent to your jaw. Over time, the bone begins to lose mass and grows weak.

The Importance of Your Jawbone for Dental Implants

Dental implant posts are surgically placed into your jawbone. As you heal from surgery, your jawbone fuses to these posts in a natural process called osseointegration. This process turns the posts into stable replacement roots that anchor your replacement teeth securely in place. If you are missing too much bone mass, though, your jawbone will not be able to fuse properly, or at all. This can result in loose implants and even implant failure.

What is a Ridge Augmentation?

A ridge augmentation is a surgical procedure that is performed if you are missing too much bone in your jaw to properly support dental implants. This particular procedure is typically performed if you are missing a larger amount of bone mass. The procedure involves the use of a bone graft to restore height, width, and mass to your jawbone. As you heal from this procedure, your existing bone mass fuses to the graft material, strengthening your jaw. Once you have healed from this procedure, then the process for placing dental implants can begin.

Bone Grafting for a Ridge Augmentation

There are a few different types of bone grafts that may be performed. During your initial consultation, we will go over your options and determine the best type of graft for you. Common types of bone grafts include:

•	Autografts. An autograft is a bone graft that uses bone mass harvested from another region of your own body. Common sites include the hip and the tibia. While an additional surgical site is needed, there is no risk of rejection or disease transmission because we are using your tissue.
•	Allografts. An allograft uses human tissue from another individual. This avoids the need for an additional surgical site. The tissue is screened before use to ensure safety and reduce your risk for rejection and other complications.
•	Xenografts. A xenograft uses bone tissue harvested from an animal source. Like allografts, a xenograft means that you do not need an extra surgical site. The bone tissue is processed at high temperatures to ensure safety. Xenografts are often used when larger amounts of bone need to be replaced.

If your jawbone is too weak to provide support for dental implants, this does not mean that you cannot receive this treatment. Ridge augmentation can help to restore mass, height, and width to the bone, increasing dental implant success. For more information, contact Fairmount Dental Center at (503) 967-0877 today.

Fairmount Dental Center, 1524 Commercial St. SE, Salem, OR 97302 • (503) 967-0877 • fairmountdentalcenter.com • 6/29/2022 • Related Terms: dentist Salem OR •

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