BONE GRAFT AND SOFT TISSUE SURGERY

For dental implants to be successful, the jawbone must have enough bone to support them. You may not have enough bone because of tooth loss from periodontal (gum) disease, injury or trauma, or a developmental defect. If your jaw is too short (vertically), too narrow (transversely), or both, you will need a procedure to add bone to your jaw before implants can be placed.

Bone grafting or augmentation is a term that is used to describe a variety of procedures that are used to "build" bone so that dental implants can be placed. These procedures typically involve adding bone from either another part of the jaw or hip, or the use of bonelike materials to the implant area, and waiting for the grafted material to fuse with the existing bone over several months.

Dr Madden will discuss the best choice of bone augmentation for your particular case. 

Sinus lift

A sinus lift is surgery that adds bone to your upper jaw in the area of your molars and premolars to make it taller. The bone is added between your jaw and the maxillary sinuses, which are on either side of your nose. To make room for the bone, the sinus membrane has to be moved upward, or "lifted." A sinus lift is done when there is not enough bone in the upper jaw, or the sinuses are too close to the jaw, for dental implants to be placed. 

Ridge Augmentation

Ridge augmentation involves changing the soft tissue and or the underlying bony base of the jaws. It is appropriate where patients cannot wear dentures comfortably due to soft tissue excess or inflammation. It can also enable more suitable placement of implants by altering the underlying bony anatomy of the jaws to better suit the placement of implants.