Dealing With Dental Bone Loss: Dental Implants and Bone Regeneration

Bone regeneration is the process of restoring missing bone within the jaw. It is a crucial step involved in the dental implant preparation process. Keep reading to find out more about bone regeneration and how this procedure helps support dental implants. 

Bone Regeneration Before Placing Dental Implants

Tooth loss can also lead to dental bone loss. Bone regeneration is a dental procedure designed to restore bone density and provide proper support for dental implants that replace missing teeth. 

During this oral surgery procedure, the dentist places a bone graft into the jawbone. The bone graft fuses with the existing bone and stimulates bone regrowth to ensure proper density for the placement of the dental implant. 

Most of the time, the dentist will recommend this procedure soon after the patient has lost a natural tooth or after they’ve had a tooth extracted.

Reasons for Bone Loss

Bone loss or atrophy can be caused by a variety of reasons such as:

• Missing teeth that are not replaced
• Chronic periodontitis
• Misaligned teeth
• Bone infections 
• Tumors 

Placing a Dental Implant After a Bone Regeneration Procedure

When your mouth heals after the bone regeneration procedure and the bone graft has completely integrated with the existing bone, the dentist can proceed with the dental implant placement procedure. 

Once the osseointegration process is complete, the titanium implant is surgically embedded into the jawbone and allowed to fuse with it. After the implant fuses with the jawbone, the dentist will place an abutment and then the artificial tooth to complete the restoration.  

Why You Need to Prevent Bone Loss After Losing a Tooth

The best way to prevent bone loss is to get a dental implant or a socket preservation procedure immediately after losing your tooth or having one extracted. Waiting to replace the missing tooth for longer will cause the bone to weaken and make a bone regeneration procedure necessary if you want to get a dental implant. 

Dr. Jayme A. Oliveira Filho at Alencar Family Dentistry offers comprehensive dental care services to patients in Chesapeake, Virginia. For appointments, call (757) 546-0301 or book online on our website. You can also visit us at 711 Greenbrier Pkwy Suite 101, Chesapeake, VA 23320.