Fixed Teeth with or without bone grafting
Bone grafting and/or bone augmentation is a surgical procedure that tries to replace and/or regenerate the missing or lost alveolar bone in a patient. This procedure utilizes material from the patient’s own body, a synthetic/artificial substitute, or natural bone substitute. Provided that there is adequate space for the needed bone growth, the body’s bone tissue has the capacity to regenerate the lost alveolar bone. The process is possible, because while nascent bone grows, it will generally replace the grafted material, with the net result being a new region of established bone, whether the clinician is trying to regenerate lost alveolar bone as a result of odontogenic infection or trauma or attempting to correct an insufficient quantity of available bone as a result of tooth loss, which, in the case of maxillary posterior teeth, can result in pneumatization of the sinus. In the former scenario, when a tooth is lost, the primary goal of replacing the bone is to enhance the appearance of the soft-tissue topography.
Bone loss is a common consequence of loss of teeth and chronic periodontitis. In the case of periodontitis, the bacteria gradually eat away at the underlying jawbone and at the periodontal ligaments that connect the tooth to the bone.
The most common cause of bone loss is tooth loss left unreplaced, especially multiple teeth. The jawbones are preserved through the pressure and stimuli of chewing. When that is removed through tooth loss, the bone “resorbs” (reabsorbs) into the body. In the first year after tooth extraction, 25% of bone is lost, and this bone loss continues on.
Bone Grafting
In cases where bone has already been lost, bone grafting might be needed to provide enough bone for dental implant placement.
A bone graft not only replaces lost bone, it also stimulates the jawbone to regrow and eventually replaces the bone graft with the patient’s own, healthy bone. We use a variety of different types of bone graft material, depending on the patient, including new cutting-edge materials that require less healing time.
Without Bone Grafting
Immediate implant placement without bone grafting not only reduces the number of surgeries necessary but also decreases the treatment time.
We at Royal Dental Clinics can place single-stage dental implants or immediate implant placement without bone graft. These implants do not require a second procedure to uncover.
Extraoral Prosthesis
Rehabilitation in patients with facial defects requires a multidisciplinary approach involving a head and neck surgeon, a maxillofacial prosthodontist and a reconstructive surgeon. Extra-oral prosthetic rehabilitation complements reconstructive surgery in patients with facial defects.
Rehabilitation of facial defects is generally required in patients who have undergone tumor ablative surgery for head and neck cancers as well as in a few trauma patients. A multidisciplinary approach is required in the care of these patients. In most of the cases of head and neck surgery, planning and preparation for rehabilitation is done prior to the surgery using a coordinated approach.
Patients may develop severe facial defects as a consequence of trauma, cancer surgery or congenital disorders. Craniofacial prosthesis to restore tissue loss in the eye, ear, nose and at multiple sites have been developed over the years to improve the individual’s quality of life and disguise the aesthetic problems created post surgery. These craniofacial prostheses can be retained either with skin adhesives or mechanically with extraoral implants.