Bruxism Treatment: 5 Important Benefits of Wearing a Night Guard
Bruxism causes several problems, but night guards can treat your side effects and keep you feeling healthy for a long time. Consider the benefits of getting a custom night guard today.
Dental Implant Preparation: What to Expect During and After Your Bone Graft Procedure
Many people are surprised and even terrified when they go in for a dental implant consultation and are told, “Before you can get your implant, you might need a bone graft.” Who needs a bone graft, anyway? And why is this procedure often a preparation for a dental implant?
Downtown Dental Studio offers in-office bone grafts for patients who need them before they can receive dental implants. Fadi Beydoun, DMD, MS, Alexander Kimon, DMD, and Karina Zaygermakher, DMD, can happily recommend whether this process is necessary for your oral health and walk you through the procedure one step at a time.
Bone grafts 101: who needs them and why
Bone grafting is a procedure that introduces new bone tissue into the parts of your jawbone that may have decayed and eroded. The procedure sounds daunting, but it’s often necessary to get a new dental implant. After all, a weakened jaw bone can’t support healthy, natural teeth, let alone an implant.
The need for bone grafting is common. About 50% of dental implant procedures will involve some level of bone grafting. That’s why discussing the process with your oral health provider and asking any questions is important.
What to expect during your bone graft
A bone grafting procedure sounds major, but we perform them here in our office in about an hour. The process involves taking bone tissue from a donor (or from somewhere else on your body) and placing it in the area of your jaw where you have serious bone density loss. Your provider then grafts the new tissue onto this area.
Sedation is provided during the procedure so you won’t be in pain. Afterward, you’ll need someone to drive you home. The procedure is quite minor when a donor provides bone tissue, but those who utilize bone tissue from their bodies will need more time to recover from the retrieval process.
The bridge between bone graft and a dental implant
After you receive your bone graft, you’ll need about a week of recovery time, like any oral surgery. Over-the-counter medications and possibly prescription pain medications may be involved, but the procedure’s effects will wear off shortly, and you’ll be back to your regular activities.
However, you won’t be able to jump right into getting a dental implant. The bone graft allows new bone material to grow and fuse with your tissue. This process takes time and may require three to six months before you’re fully ready to start the dental implant process. This bridge process may take even longer for patients with severe bone density loss.
In the meantime, rest just after your procedure and avoid spitting, lifting heavy objects, and eating hard foods for at least a week. Also, we recommend avoiding alcohol for at least two weeks after your surgery, and if you smoke or vape, consider giving these habits up. They can have severely negative effects on both your bone graft and your dental implant.
Do I need bone grafting before my implant?
If you’re missing enough bone tissue that your dental implant may be compromised, we highly recommend getting bone grafting before you receive your implant.
Call 212-964-3337 to make an appointment at our New York City Financial District office. You can also book online. We look forward to helping you and giving you a reason to smile!
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