How the Jaw is Prepared for an Implant Placement
By Family Dental | Published on October 14, 2010 | 1 Comment
The way that a dentist will prepare a patient’s jaw for the placement of a dental implant depends largely on how long the patient has been without the tooth. For people who just recently lost a tooth, the process will be much easier than for someone who has been without one or more teeth for a period of months or years.
According to the renowned dentists at Family Dental in San Mateo, California, patients with one or more missing teeth are likely to have severe bone deterioration. This can make it difficult for a dentist to properly put in a dental implant since there needs to be a solid structure in order for the implant to be securely placed.
In most healthy mouths, the jawbone will be strong and sturdy enough to support the placement of a dental implant. What happens when someone loses one or more teeth, however, is that the bone that holds the tooth will deteriorate. This deterioration occurs when there is no tooth available to stimulate the jaw, causing the jawbone to essentially disappear from the mouth. This deterioration can take place over the course of a number of weeks, months, or even years depending on the particular patient.
With that in mind, most dentists will evaluate the strength of the patient’s jawbone during the initial stages of the dental implant process. Especially for patients who have been missing a tooth for a long period of time, there is a high likelihood that the bone will have deteriorated to the point where it cannot support a dental implant.
Luckily for patients with this problem, all is not lost. At high-tech practices like Family Dental in San Mateo, a dentist can actually strengthen the jawbone and make it strong enough to support an implant through the process of bone grafting. Although bone grafting should not be anyone’s first choice when it comes to placing a dental implant, it is still an option for patients whose jaws have deteriorated.
Assuming that a patient does not have enough bone left to place the implant, then going forward with a bone grafting procedure is usually the next step in the process. After a dentist has performed the bone graft, he or she will need the patient to wait for the bone graft to heal before going ahead with the placement of the implant.
Although dental implants can be used on patients of all ages, the reality is that bone grafting is generally something that is more commonly necessary for older patients than their younger counterparts. The reason? As the experts at Family Dental explain, younger people have a tendency to come into the office sooner to seek out information about dental implants than older patients.
Because cost is a consideration for so many people, it is common for some patients to lose one or more teeth and then wait 10 to 12 years before coming into the dentist’s office to seek treatment. Unfortunately, during that time, the patient is likely to have lost a good portion of his jawbone, and he is much more likely to need some type of bone grafting procedure before the implant can be placed. As a general rule of thumb, the professionals at Family Dental say that the sooner a person sees his dentist after losing one or more teeth, the better his chances are of being able to have an implant placed without needing a bone grafting procedure.
*Disclaimer: The information on this website is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
Adequate bone is critical for success of dental implants. So it is best to preserve the bone following any tooth extraction by either placing the implant in 2-3 months or perform site graft if inadequate. If bone is missing, then various bone grafting procedures can be done to augment the proper form and foundation for the implant. Bone grafting and implants are best performed by specialists working with your restorative dentist.