Teeth are implanted in the jawbones, which give them the stability they need to remain in the arches for as long as possible. Some situations can lead to a decrease in the quantity and quality of bone.
These include:
Old dentures – when the patient loses one or more, the underlying bone no longer receives functional stimuli. Teeth and bones are in functional balance.
The registered masticatory pressure is transmitted to the periodontal ligaments and bone. The moment the patient loses teeth, the bones are no longer maintained in activity. Like any organ that is no longer utilized, the bones atrophy.
This atrophy is described by the resorption of the bones, their height progressively reducing.
Infections that reach the bone – apical infections occur when the root of the tooth becomes contaminated with micro-organisms.
This occurs when there is a gateway between the contaminated oral environment and the tooth roots, most often represented by deep caries.
Cysts – cysts are intra-osseous cavities that may occur due to inflammatory phenomena or may be developmental, due to debris resulting from the embryogenesis process.
Trauma – accidents may result in significant bone loss in the facial mass
Tumors – the extension of tumors to the jaw bone or their direct onset in the bone mass can lead to massive loss of hard structure. These will also hinder the fitting of dentures but will also produce significant asymmetries, making the patient feel stigmatized.
Whatever the origin of bone loss, it often prevents correct prosthetics.
Bone addition is a surgical procedure designed to restore the loss of bone structure acquired as a result of the processes described above. Bone augmentation is most often used when the patient wishes to opt for a treatment consisting of implants.
Types of bone
The materials that are used in bone augmentation procedures can be as follows:
Autologous bone – is harvested from the same patient, most of the time the donor source is actually areas of the oral cavity. This method has a high success rate.
Allogenic bone – is human bone harvested from other patients and stored in bone banks
Bone harvested from animals, most commonly bovine bone
Alloplastic bone – produced from synthetic materials
Bone addition can be performed after the time of extraction to speed up the healing time of the socket. In most cases patients present to the doctor’s office when the edentulous teeth are old and the bone changes are considerable.
Prior to bone placement the oral cavity must be cleaned and prepared for surgery.
This ensures a clean site ready for optimal integration of the bone graft.
Bone addition is an important step in the preparation of the prosthetic field, especially for implant surgery. This procedure allows the reconstruction of bone defects and provides a favorable clinical situation for implant placement.
