Thursday, 24 May 2012

What is bone grafting?

By Carl Easing


Patients may undergo bone grafting for a number of different reasons which we will explain shortly, but put simply patients can gone grafted three different ways. The first is with bone harvested from the patient's own body. The second is with bone taken from a bone bank. And thirdly, some may have bone synthetically made from naturally derived materials.

Bone grafting is most commonly used for dental implant surgical procedures. Often those who suffer from edentulous (complete toothlessness) have weak or worn away bone in their jaw making dental implants impossible to fit. Therefore, new bone has to be inserted into the mouth in order for the new implants to fuse with the mouth and make the new prosthesis strong. Often, this bone is taken from the person's own body, often the chin.

Filling in missing bone prior to having dental implants fitted is carried out in a number of methods. There is guided bone regeneration, guided tissue regeneration, immediate implant placement and sinus elevation and grafting, all of which are used to recreate bone to make having dental implants fitted possible.

Bone grafting is not just used to aid dental implants, but can be used to treat other physical ailments, too. Those suffering from acute forms of arthritis may opt to have their joints fused together to prevent on-going pain and discomfort, and bone grafting can also be used to treat broken, fractured or unhealed bone.

Ideally, bone grafting is carried out using bone taken from the patient's own body because there is less likelihood of their body rejecting the placement. Dental implant bone grafting is usually carried out using bone from the chin, but for other grafts bone can be taken from the iliac crest, the ribs, the fibula or even the skull. Bone can also be harvested from similar types of bone found in bone banks, or can even be created in laboratories using a mix of biologically active ingredients such as calcium, and bone marrow.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment