Bone Grafting in Flower Mound Texas

So a bone graft is necessary when we plan to replace missing teeth with implants, but we don't have enough bone in there. So as soon as teeth are removed, the bone begins to shrink and over the course of three to 12 months, a lot of bone is lost.

Actually, in the first three months, most of it is lost. But it continues to shrink after 12 months and then it slowly shrinks after that. So it's ideal to place implants very soon after teeth are removed. However, if we miss that opportunity not to worry, bone can still be regenerated. And that's what bone grafts are for.

Can the bone graft fail?

Indeed, it can fail. It's not guaranteed to take. In fact, it's quite an intricate procedure. We rely on a lot of factors lining up and being right the more severe the bone loss, the more challenging it is to regenerate bone.

So sometimes we gain a lot of bone, sometimes we gain some but not enough where we have to have a follow-up bone graft.

And sometimes, we don't get enough bone at all but there is always an opportunity for a second bone graft if needs be. But having said all that, even though they're not 100% guaranteed most bone grafts are successful and it is indeed a very successful procedure these days. There are a number of ways to regenerate bone. Some of these techniques involve using the patient's own bone.

Some of these techniques utilize a human donor bone and some of the techniques utilize bovine bone. There are techniques that use a mixture of those materials. So depending on the bone graft, depending on the outcome that we're trying to achieve and how much bone we are trying to regrow, we can discuss all these options. 

So we have some dilemmas. There are some techniques that can be utilized using patients' own bone and also consenting human donor bone a mixture of those two can be used in bone grafting, as well as human donor skin that avoids the use of animal materials.

These techniques do work but there are techniques that are probably more successful than that. And unfortunately, they do utilize bovine bone and porcine membranes. So there are a number of techniques that can be used.

And if you object to using animal bone or animal donor bone, then we can certainly discuss techniques that don't utilize them. And as a vegan and as a practitioner, it's a dilemma that I constantly fight.

No, you don't need a bone graft to have an implant. Or perhaps I should rephrase myself, you don't always need a bone graft to have an implant. In fact, if you still have your own teeth and you're about to lose a tooth, a very simple procedure can be performed that's called a socket graft.

What socket graft does it actually have, in nine out of ten patients it preserves bone. So an ideal time to place an implant is about three months after a tooth has been extracted and a socket graft was done. So that's when you have the maximum amount of bone so that's the best time to place an implant. However, when that opportunity is missed, that's when the bone graft is necessary if there isn't enough bone and it has to be regenerated.

If you don't want the bone graft. If you don't have enough bone for an implant and you refuse to have a bone graft then you can't have an implant. Then there are options, you could consider a bridge, which is also a comfortable option. It is fixed probably as comfortable as an implant, but it doesn't involve any surgery. And there is no need to have enough bone for a bridge. But the disadvantage of a bridge is that other adjacent teeth are prepared and they're involved in the bridge so if one of those teeth is compromised down the track, then the whole bridge comes crumbling down.

I guess I should also mention the denture. A denture is a removable appliance. It has been used for many, many years to replace missing teeth. I do have a collection of dentures in my drawer. And the reason for that is so many people have come and donated them to me.

They've asked me to replace them with implants. So depending on the extent of bone that needs to be regenerated, a bone graft will set you back approximately $3,000. Could be less, could be more. It very much depends on what needs.