If you have experienced tooth loss or recently had a tooth extracted, you may be wondering about bone grafts. A reputable dentist can diagnose your need for a bone graft based on visual exams, x-rays and digital dentistry scanners. These images will allow you to better understand what’s going on and what issues are causing the problems, even if they are underneath the gum line and invisible to the naked eye.
In the past, those with lower bone volume who’ve experienced tooth loss were a sure-fire candidate for a bone graft to aid implant retention. For years, the bone grafting procedure was the only way to prepare the jawbone, gums, and mouth for a dental or tooth implant.
However, at Next Smile Australia, we strive to give our patients all options. We’ll also go over an effective method for dental implants that avoids bone grafting altogether. The All-on-4® treatment is an innovative technique providing predictable outcomes, all leading to an incredibly high success rate for patients without the need for bone grafting.
What Is Dental Bone Grafting, And How Does It Work?
Bone grafting is a surgical procedure that replaces damaged, deteriorated or missing bone in areas affected by trauma, disease or congenital malformations. The replacement bone can be taken from your body or, in an increasing number of cases, can be entirely synthetic.
The natural ability of bone to regenerate itself when provided with the space to do so is what makes bone grafting possible. As the bone regrows, the newly formed natural bone gradually overtakes the introduced material.
The bone grafting procedure places new material or bone from the patient into the socket to stimulate new growth within the site. This material then increases strength in the tissue so that a dental implant can be placed and anchored safely.
Like many other forms of restorative dentistry, there’s more than one kind of dental bone graft. Bone grafting for traditional dental implants is often placed into two categories based on the style of material used.
- Autografts use material from the patient’s own body, often the hips, ribs, wrists, or pelvis.
- Synthetic variants often come from materials like calcium sulphate and bioglass.
The process itself can also take different forms
- Ridge augmentation involves placing bone material within the socket of the tooth and can require between six and nine months of recovery time.
- For a sinus lift procedure, which is for patients who need implants in their upper jaw, dental bone graft recovery can take about a year.
Dental bone graft recovery is often lengthy and drawn out. The process itself requires multiple appointments and often considerable discomfort. Patients often have to schedule their dental bone grafting almost a year before their implant surgery.
Reasons A Dentist May Recommend Bone Grafting
Your dental surgeon may recommend a dental bone graft before your dental implant surgery for one of the following reasons:
You’ve had one or more missing teeth for a long time
Using your teeth regularly helps keep your jawbone strong. When a tooth is removed and not replaced immediately, it leads to the jawbone deteriorating and growing brittle. Over time, this can cause more of your teeth to fall out. If you’ve had a missing tooth or multiple for several months or years, you may require a bone graft for dental implants.
You have gum disease
Severe periodontitis (gum disease) causes an infection in the supporting bone and leads to poorer jawbone quality.
You’ve suffered a jawbone injury
If you’ve had a broken jaw or another jawbone injury, you may need a bone graft for dental implants, depending on how severe it is.
You have osteoporosis
If you have osteoporosis or another medical condition that reduces bone density, you may require bone grafts before you can proceed with dental implants. This is commonly seen in a lot of older women but can affect anyone regardless of age and gender.
Bone Grafting Risks and Complications
Bone grafting can be beneficial for repairing bone almost anywhere in your body. While it has become a routine surgical procedure over the last few years, it does involve risks and complications that should be carefully considered before opting for such a procedure.
Bone grafting, as with many surgeries and complex procedures, is associated with a prolonged recovery time and significant infection risks.
Common bone grafting risks and complications include:
- Pain and swelling of gums and face
- Bruising of skin and gums
- Inflammation and infection
- Minor bleeding
- Nerve injury
- Blood clots
- Rejection of the bone graft
- Reabsorption of the graft
As with most implant surgeries, there is a risk of your body rejecting the material that has been inserted, even if it stems from another part of your body. However, the risk of rejection is minimal since no living material is transferred. There is also no need to match the blood types of the recipient and donor.
Why All-on-4® Is The Better Option
When patients want to avoid bone grafting but lack the bone density to support implants, they can opt for the All-on-4® treatment. This innovative and effective treatment method inserts titanium implants into the jawbone, where there is good bone quality and volume.
What makes the All-on-4® treatment so unique is that it replaces a complete arch of teeth, also referred to as “full arch rehabilitation”, with only two implants in the front and two angulated implants placed in the back in either the upper or lower jawbone. The method avoids the need for bone grafting altogether, speeds up recovery time and can be done in a single session.
Dr Paulo Malo pioneered the procedure in 1998, and at Next Smile Australia, we follow his two-bridge treatment process: The Malo Protocol.
All-on-4® renders dental bone grafts unnecessary by placing the implants at stronger areas of the jawbone. With only four implants and two of them angulated they offer flexibility in the placement to areas where there’s enough jawbone mass and density to accommodate dental implants.
As a result of using only four implants and no bone grafting, All-on-4® costs a lot less than alternatives: You won’t be paying excessive amounts for bone grafting and individual tooth implants. The price for a full bridge replacement works out to be much better value for your money.
With no long recovery period normally required for dental bone grafts, you can step out of our Super Clinic on the day of your implant surgery and start showing off your new teeth to the world.
Renew Your Smile Without Bone Grafting With Next Smile Australia
All-on-4® is a treatment that has been proven effective time and time again. It can provide you with a new smile with no need for dental bone grafting.
Before committing to any restorative dental procedure, it’s important to find out if it’s right for you. If you only have one or two missing teeth, you’re better off with regular dental implants. But if you’ve lost all or most of your teeth due to illness, injury or trauma, you have advanced gum disease, or you can’t have your teeth restored by other means, there’s a strong chance that All-on-4® is the right kind of treatment for you.
The best way to find out for certain if you’re suitable for All-on-4® is to book a personal consultation with a member of the Next Smile Australia team.
If we assess you as being suitable for the treatment, we’ll take your goals and dental history into account as we create a personalised treatment plan for you–no dental bone grafts required. Your treatment will take place at one of our industry-leading Super Clinics, complete with in-house dental laboratories and state-of-the-art surgical rooms. Our in-house X-rays and CBCT scanners will mean our technicians can create custom-designed teeth built to fit your mouth and sculpted from the finest materials by our research partner, Nobel Biocare.
To find out more about the All-on-4® treatment and book a personal consultation, contact Next Smile Australia.