What does bone grafting means?

When you lost bone from your jaw, the dentist can often restore it by a surgical procedure called bone grafting.
The area from which the bone was lost, often called a bony defect, may be a result of:

- periodontal disease
- tooth removal
- trauma
- a cyst
- long term tooth loss

Though your body can normally grow bone on its own, with bone grafting, the dentist can help your body to:

- replace lost or missing bone
- fill in the pockets of bone loss
- stimulate new bone and soft tissue growth

The dentist will first select the bone grafting material. The dentist may use your own natural bone, bone from another source, or artificial bone.
In order to place the bone graft, the dentist will first make sure that the area is numbed.
He or she will then gently separate the gums from the bone or tooth.

If a tooth is present in the grafting site, the dentist will use a process called root planning to remove all of the plaque or tartar from the root surfaces of the tooth.
In this way, the area is free from all the harmful bacteria.

The dentist will then sculpt the surrounding bone to the desired shape and place the grafting material into the bony defect.
Sometimes, the dentist will take another step called guided tissue regeneration.
In this procedure, a special membrane is placed over the graft site, to prevent unwanted tissue from growing into the graft site and to enhance normal bone growth.

After the graft is placed, your gums are then repositioned over the graft site, and several sutures are placed.
Over the course of three to nine months, your body works to repair the grafted site, growing new soft tissue and bone.
This new bone growth strengthens the area by connecting your existent bone with the bone material placed during the bone grafting procedure.