Bone graft is an alternative to dental implants. It is generally done when the jaw bone is too soft or thin and fails to have the ability to keep the implanted tooth in place or causes implant surgery to fail.
It is apparently a type of surgery which is also used for fixing the damages done by gum diseases, trauma or tooth loss. As we age dental implants are needed and bone graft surgery apparently is very useful as it provides structural stability by filling up the voids in areas where the bone is not present. Even for maintaining the bone structure post tooth extraction bone grafting is carried out.
Graft surgery is of two types –
1. Autograft – As the name suggests the use of bones that are present in the body like wrist bone, pelvis bone or ribs.
2. Allograft – This surgery uses the bone of a donor who is dead or a cadaver after it is cleaned and archived in the tissue bank.
Your dentist does the diagnosis and decides on the type of bone graft is required. It is an anaestheisa assisted surgery so should be almost pain free. The process includes skin incision above the area where the graft is required. Then the bone is shaped to fit the area and with the help of plates, screws, cables or wires and pins is held in place. Once secure, the incision is stitched up.
After the surgery care needs to be taken in order to ensure the success of the surgery. The healing time is generally of over 3 months. It is advisable to eat foods that are soft and to avoid extreme exercising. In order to avoid infection of any kind, the dentist will also orient you on flossing and brushing in a suitable way. For smokers though, it is advisable to stop smoking or else the graft might fail due to prolonged bone healing on account of smoking.
Here is a run down some of the benefits of Bone Graft
It can be used for various dental issues like tooth implant, poor jaw conditions or tooth loss.
It is useful if you have an implant in the future.
It helps protecting the mouth against shrinkage in width and height over a period of time
The aesthetics of the jaw line as in the strength and shape of the bony ridge post tooth loss.
It helps in avoiding the otherwise fragile jaw structure from shortening or narrowing down
Bone grafting can be expensive but in India its quite affordable as compared to foreign countries where people opt in for medical tourism to countries like India or Mexico for dental treatments.
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