Bone Graft & Connective Tissue Graft
Bone Graft
A bone graft is done to rebuild the bone foundation so you can replace a missing tooth with an implant. The best time to do a bone graft is during tooth extraction. When a tooth is extracted, and without a bone graft, the jawbone begins to shrink. A patient may not have enough bone to place an implant. If you lose multiple teeth, your bone will shrink, aging your facial appearance. Bone grafts are used to repair implant sites where a previous extraction has taken place, or severe bone deterioration has resulted from injury or gum disease. Special membranes are sometimes used. The membrane seals and protects the bone graft, dissolves under the gum, and encourages tissue regeneration.
Connective Tissue Graft
Sometimes the gum tissue is thin, of poor quality, and there is not enough tissue to protect the neck of the implant for a good, long-term prognosis. In these cases, we need to rebuild the gum tissue with a connective tissue graft. This is a simple gum surgery, where we take tissue from another part of your mouth and put it where the implant is going to be. It can be done at the same time as the implant placement. By having a connective tissue graft, your gums will look more natural, and the gums around the implant will be stronger when you are chewing hard foods.