Bone Graft
In the case of a lost tooth, there are a couple of ways to ensure that you will not lose excess bone
height and width. Ideally, your dentist or oral surgeon will remove the damaged tooth and preserve the bone in the area using a simple bone grafting procedure. In this proc
edure, demineralized, sterile human bone granules, (which look like coarse sand), are packed into the tooth socket immediately after tooth extraction. The granules are covered with a protective collagen membrane and a couple stitches are used to close the tooth socket. This procedure is simple and usually does not add to your recovery time. Over the next several weeks, your own bone will fill the tooth socket and preserve the bone height long enough for you to have the area restored. If you replace the missing tooth with a dental implant, the bone level will remain indefinitely. If you replace the missing tooth with a bridge, you will lose some of the bone level over tim