Bone Grafting in Southborough Marlborough, MA

Home/Implant & Surgical Solutions/Bone Grafting

A dental bone graft is designed to increase the amount and quality of your jawbone. This common procedure is beneficial when the bone structure has receded due to factors like tooth loss or gum disease, or if additional support is needed, such as for dental implant surgery. When bone tissue is grafted to the jaw, this helps stimulate your body to grow new bone, strengthening your jaw and improving your eligibility for restorative procedures.

Why Are Teeth Important for Jawbone Health?

As you use your teeth to chew and bite, this puts pressure on your jawbone, which stimulates more bone production for a stronger jaw. If a tooth is lost, this signal is not being sent to your jawbone, which leads to recession as the bone begins to break down. This can affect both your smile appearance and oral function.

The gap left behind by a missing tooth can cause a number of issues when left untreated. Over time, the following concerns can develop:

Shifting of the nearby teeth
Teeth becoming loose or being lost
Collapse of facial appearance
Difficulty speaking and chewing

To protect the health of your mouth — from your teeth and gums to your jawbone — it is important to address any tooth loss and bone recession before further problems can develop.

What Are the Different Types of Bone Grafting?

At Dental Surgical Group, our experienced dental professionals offer a number of bone grafting procedures to address our patients’ varying needs. Two of the most common techniques we perform include ridge augmentation and sinus lift surgery.

Ridge Augmentation

Ridge augmentation can be performed immediately after tooth extraction to minimize bone loss, or the procedure can be done later to rebuild an area affected by tooth loss. By rebuilding the natural shape of the ridge, you can avoid the indented appearance that can result from bone and gum tissue filling in the area of the missing tooth root. Ridge augmentation is often needed before dental implant surgery to create a strong foundation for the implant posts.

Sinus Lift

A sinus lift, or sinus augmentation, helps to increase the amount of bone available in the upper back jaw. This is accomplished by lifting the sinus membrane higher and adding a bone graft underneath. You may need a sinus lift if you have had excessive bone loss or your sinuses are too close to your upper jaw. By strengthening the bone in this area, you can often become eligible for a procedure like dental implants.