Quality Dental Bone Grafting in Birmingham, AL

You might think the strength of your jawbone doesn't change and is set in stone from the time you finish growing. However, our jawbones are kept strong by everyday actions like chewing and biting, as well as having healthy teeth and gums. If you lose a tooth in an injury, have teeth pulled, or suffer from periodontal disease, you will begin losing bone mass in your jaw.

Using bone samples from your own body or a donor bank, we can replace missing bone needed for dental implants. Drs Gonzalez and Maniscalco most frequently use cadaver bone for bone grafting, which prevents the need for a second surgical site to harvest the bone. The cadaver bone has been decellularized, meaning that all of the cells have been removed, and all that is left is the calcium scaffolding for your body to use to create your own new bone. This allows us to replace bone that has been lost over the years, or to prevent bone loss around a socket after an extraction. With this foundation, you can receive dental implants, restore your jaw’s natural function, and preserve your facial appearance.

At Gonzalez & Maniscalco, we are highly skilled at choosing the precise bone graft materials and placement to restore the quality and quantity of your jawbone. With our advanced imaging technology and board certification, we’re Birmingham’s choice for the most successful and least stressful dental bone grafting procedures.

What to Expect from Bone Grafting

A minor bone grafting procedure, called socket grafting, is typically performed for patients at the time of tooth extraction. Once the tooth is extracted, the external bony walls of the socket tend to collapse during the healing phase, which can sometimes make the bone too narrow to place a dental implant without more major grafting in the future. With a socket graft, Dr Gonzalez and Maniscalco will place a bone graft in the socket of the tooth, which can prevent the walls from collapsing during healing, and develop a great foundation for a future dental implant. We perform these procedures in our Inverness Highway 280 office routinely.

Patients may need major bone grafting if teeth have been missing for an extended period of time, or even if the shape of the jaw bone just isn't ideal for dental implants. Our doctors will discuss the shape of your bone and any needs that you may have when evaluating you and planning your implant placement.

Helpful Oral Surgery Links

Dental Implants

A bone graft may be your first step toward dental implants—a revolutionary way to replace missing teeth that look, feel, and function like the real thing.

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Extractions

If you need to have a tooth extracted, be sure to discuss your options for preserving your jawbone with your dental team, including ridge augmentation.

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Surgical Instructions

If you've had or will soon have a bone graft procedure, including sinus lifts, you can access your at-home aftercare instructions anytime right here on our website.

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Dental Bone Graft FAQs

What is a sinus lift?

A sinus lift, or sinus augmentation, is a type of bone graft procedure that raises the floor of your sinuses while simultaneously encouraging bone growth and thickness. In essence, it makes your upper jaw taller to make room for new, healthy bone to grow. This procedure is typically performed for patients who need dental implants placed in the upper jaw near the sinuses but don't have enough bone structure to anchor them successfully.

How long does a bone graft take to heal?

Full dental bone graft healing can take around 3 months for the lower jaw or 5-6 months for the upper jaw, depending on the extent of the surgery. However, the recovery period tends to be minimal in terms of pain and discomfort, and you'll likely start feeling back to normal between 1-2 weeks.

If you are getting dental implants after bone grafting, we will typically schedule the implant at least 3 to 6 months afterward to allow time for the new bone to fuse, establish, and grow.

Is Ridge Augmentation the same as bone grafting?

Ridge Augmentation is a specific type of bone grafting procedure, where our doctors build up the "ridge" of your jaw bone. This word comes from alveolar ridge, which is the top area of your jaw bone in your mouth that holds your teeth. When teeth have been missing for a long period of time, this area gets smaller and smaller, which can prevent the possibility of having dental implants. Our doctors use special techniques to rebuild this area to give you the possibility of having dental implants in this area.

If the bone surrounding a tooth socket does not properly heal after an extraction, the socket will deteriorate. To correct this and prepare your jaw for dental implants, we can place a small amount of bone grafting material directly into the socket.

Often, we'll perform this procedure immediately after we remove a tooth. Having both extraction and ridge augmentation at once keeps you from having to undergo two surgeries.

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