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Ridge Augmentation Procedures
When fixing dental implants, there are various cases. You may experience a bone loss or much time has passed since you lost the tooth. This can lead to a narrow bone, and the remaining ridge bone cannot support an implant well. You may need bone augmentation in such a case; this is a separate procedure before the implantation. The procedure is known as ridge augmentation. When the bone is added, you can get the membrane and time for the grafted bone to integrate well. A new bone can be implanted after integration.
Ridge augmentation
This is a procedure performed after tooth extraction. This will help to reconstruct the natural gum and the jawline. The augmentation can shape the jawline to treat bone loss that was related to the removed tooth and any other dental condition.
Bone loss happens when a patient has periodontal disease and other medical condition which can affect the jawbone. The alveolar margins, known as the alveolar ridge, are two ridges that contain the alveoli of the tooth. The alveolus works like a socket and holds the tooth root.
When you lose a tooth, the alveolar remains open, and it will be filled with natural tissues. The alveoli can break and may not heal when you lose a tooth or when the tooth is extracted. To get an implant, you need a strong and healthy bone that can support the implant.
The ridge augmentation will help to shape and contour the gum and jawline. It can also help you to achieve what it had been before losing the tooth, and the alveoli got damaged. After the procedure, the bone will be strong and can support an implant.
How ridge augmentation is done
The procedure is done by fixing a bone graft and tissue in the space that is left after losing or extracting a tooth. In most cases, if the tooth is extracted, the dentist near me will perform ridge augmentation to avoid bone loss.
An emergency dentist can fix a grafting material in the alveolus and stitch the gums on the alveolus carefully for better healing. The bone and tissue graft material grows in the alveolus and can fill the space to improve the bone density for supporting dental implants.
If the socket head is left to heal with the ridge augmentation, the alveolar ridge should be prepared for a dental implant. Most specialists do the teeth augmentation procedure using local anesthesia to reduce pain and discomfort.
Why a ridge augmentation?
For you to have a dental implant, you should have healthy bone to support dental implants. If you don’t have the right bone or strong bone, ridge augmentation will help to strengthen the base for future dental implantation. Bone density is important for dental implants and will help to undergo osseointegration, a process which the dental implants bond and adhere to the jawbone successfully. The implant acts like the root of the tooth and needs bone density to strengthen at the jawbone.
Who can have ridge augmentation?
The person who has lost or removed a tooth or teeth is an ideal candidate for ridge augmentation as they wait for an implant. If the alveoli are damaged and broken, ridge augmentation will help to fill the cavity using a bone graft. If the doctor hesitates to fix an implant because of lack of bone or low bone density, ridge augmentation should be an option in this case.
Expectations
There are two stages in the bone preservation and alveolar ridge during and after extraction of a tooth. All extractions can be done the same way; this is the reason why you need an extraction specialist or an oral surgeon to do the procedure.
The first step is to remove a tooth and try to preserve the fragile bone. The next step will be doing everything to ensure that the socket doesn’t collapse. Bone replacement material is added into the cavity; the process is known as ridge and socket preservation through bone grafting.
The procedure should be done immediately after tooth extraction. This will preserve the bone on the cavity and prepare for future implants. In the area of jaw bone can support the tooth in the tooth socket.
Preserving the bone shape and volume is important in supporting the stability of the implant with an anesthetic. If the tooth is extracted, the supporting bone will start to melt. If ridge augmentation is done immediately after tooth removal, this will prevent bone loss.
When a tooth is extracted with care, it is important to leave the socket bone in place. This can clean and debride the cavity where the tooth was. The dentist will insert a prepared cadaver bone graft into the cavity. This will help to have the socket intact with a small collagen plug where the socket sutures it. The collagen plug will fall after a few days, and a new alveolar bone will replace the plug and help to preserve the ridge.
Go for a checkup in four months after grafting; the dentist will check and see if you are ready for an implant. If the bone is strong and enough, you will be prepared for a dental implant.
Before the procedure, you can discuss your medical history, risks, dental implant cost, and benefits of the procedure with the specialist. Once the dentist decides that you are an ideal candidate, expect a new smile.
Various ways can be used for augmenting and regenerating the alveolar bone for dental implants. The dentist should recommend highly recommended technique that best suits you, after evaluating the defected area and consider other factors like patient preference, the extent of defect, available materials, expertise, cost, available tools, and the ease of the procedure. It is important to review all the successful ways and the materials available to help in the selection of the technique to achieve a high success rate and desired result. The dentist office near me should use an evidence-based approach when developing a treatment for bone augmentation to predict the outcomes and set the right expectations for the results.