Grafting Following Tooth Extraction

In the United States alone, thousands of teeth are extracted annually, primarily because of decay, severe periodontal disease, infection, or trauma. The jaw bone that supports the teeth, "alveolar" bone, which is generally soft and vascular, often melts away or resorbs following tooth removal. Such bone resorption can result in significant cosmetic or functional defects, including loss of surrounding gum tissue.

Bioengineering has led to simple but effective surgical techniques that can either totally prevent or greatly reduce the bone and soft tissue loss that normally occurs following tooth extraction.

What generally occurs to the surrounding bone and tissue following tooth extraction?

Even with the most atraumatic extraction and completely normal healing, there is often some resorption or melting away of the surrounding bone, resulting in less height and width that were present prior to tooth extraction. In addition, as bone resorbs the overlying gum tissue also tends to lose both volume and its normal anatomic form. These changes can occur anywhere but the most severe loss of bone and gum tissue tends to occur following removal of incisor teeth located in the front of the mouth.

Why is preserving bone and surrounding gum tissue important?

Loss of bone and gum tissue following tooth extraction often results in both functional and cosmetic defects. Such tissue loss often results in an unsightly collapsed appearance, especially in the front of the mouth where proper maintenance of tissue health is critical to normal esthetics. In addition, loss of bone and gum tissue often compromise the dentist's ability to adequately replace the missing tooth or teeth with either conventional removable or fixed bridgework or with a dental implant supported restoration. Sometimes the loss of bone is so severe that additional surgical procedures are required prior to replacing the missing tooth with either a conventional or implant supported restoration.

How can bone and gum tissue be preserved following tooth extraction?

Today, because of advances in dental surgical procedures and bioengineering, bone and gum tissue loss following tooth removal can either be greatly reduced or completely eliminated. Following removal of the tooth a specially bioengineered graft material that helps support bone formation is placed within the extraction socket. This bone graft material, with structure similar to human bone, not only supports new bone growth but also has been shown to preserve bone and overlying soft tissue following tooth removal..  Visit www.chinosmiles for more information.