How to benefit from dental implants if you have low bone density
Traditionally, low bone density has been considered a barrier to having dental implants fitted. However, thanks to modern advances and the skill of our implant surgeon, Dr Harmit Kalsi, Sheen Dental Implants in Richmond is now able to offer implant treatment to patients whose jaw bone has shrunk.
A shrinking jaw bone is a common but lesser-known side effect of having several or all of your natural teeth missing. Furthermore, traditional dentures and dental bridges only replace the crowns of the teeth – but it’s the missing tooth roots that result in shrinkage of the jaw bone.
As well as making treatment with dental implants more complex, loss of jaw bone density also alters the structure of the face to create a prematurely aged appearance. At our Richmond dental clinic we are able to help with all of these issues. An additional procedure may be required to rebuild the density of your jaw bone prior to implant placement.
Richmond bone regeneration options
We offer several options to rebuild your jaw bone here at our Richmond dental practice. These will be discussed with you during your consultation about dental implants if we find you are currently lacking in bone density.
Bone expansion
This is an advanced surgical procedure that involves using a series of instruments to expand the walls of the bone at the proposed dental implants site. A small hole is drilled through the centre of the relevant area, which may then be filled with bone graft material, or a dental implant may be immediately placed in the space. Our Richmond dental clinic is one of the few in this area to offer such treatment.
Bone graft
This is a popular option at our Richmond clinic, and sees the placement of bone graft material – either from elsewhere in the patient’s body or using synthetic crystals that match bone structure –to rebuild levels of bone density prior to placing dental implants. The majority of this procedure is done in the dentist’s chair at our Richmond practice.
Sinus lift
A sinus lift involves lifting the sinus cavity and packing it with bone graft material.