Implant Site Development

Often times the site that will be receiving a dental implant needs to be developed to meet the parameters needed for successful implant placement and maintenance.

What is site preservation or socket grafting?

Bone loss occurs following tooth extraction. Often, this bone loss leads to functional and esthetic problems that require extensive and complicated procedures to correct. Socket preservation can be performed to prevent this loss from occurring. By placing a bone graft into a fresh extraction socket, and securing the graft with a collagen membrane, bone loss can be minimized, ridge form is better maintained and implants can then be easily placed. This procedure is quick and easy and relatively inexpensive in comparison to ridge modification procedures that are often necessary when site preservation is not performed.

Ridge modification

Defects in the jaw bone often require repair in preparation for the placement of dental implants. This is often true when extractions are performed without site preservation procedures. Various techniques and materials are used for this purpose. For small defects, allografts, xenografts and other synthetic bone substitutes can often be used. For larger defects, your own bone, or specialized proteins are often required. The doctors and staff will let you know which materials will best work for you.

Sinus augmentation

There are three sets of paired sinus cavities within the human skull. The maxillary sinuses are located in the back of the upper jaw close to the roots of the back teeth. When teeth are lost in the back areas of the upper jaw the maxillary sinuses very often expand and destroy adjacent jaw bone compromising dental implant placement. Sinus augmentation (also known as sinus lift or sinus graft) can be performed to reconstruct the bone back to its original state and allow for dental implant placement.

How can a sinus augmentation help me?

When the sinuses have enlarged in the upper jaw (referred to as “pneumatization”), they often are in the way of dental implant placement. There are two ways to resolve this problem. When the sinuses have dipped down in a mild way, a sinus lift can be performed at the same time that the dental implant is placed through the new dental implant socket. This is commonly referred to the osteotome lift or crestal approach and is relatively quick and easy. However, when the sinuses have dipped significantly, a separate procedure is often needed prior to implant placement. This is a little more involved procedure that takes about an hour to perform. The sinus membrane is accessed inside the mouth, through the side of the jaw and then gently lifted up to its original position. A bone graft is placed beneath it, to stimulate new bone growth in the upper jaw. After approximately 4-6 months of healing, dental implants can then be placed. The success rates of dental implants in a grafted sinus are over 97%.

Soft tissue grafting

Gum tissues often atrophy or shrink, creating both functional and aesthetic dilemmas. The gums can also be damaged during extraction if a dentist is not careful when handling the soft tissues during surgery. Soft tissue grafts can replace missing gum tissues for a better aesthetic outcome as well as to prepare for dental implant placement when needed.