What is a Natural Bone Graft? Do I need a Bone Graft for a Dental Implant?
Basically a Natural Bone graft is a Bone Graft prepared with Natural Platelets, Bone Growth Factors, Fibrin and White Blood cells taken from the person getting the Graft. The New Biological Bone Graft procedure results in faster and stronger Bone healing in the areas of Dental Implants, Wisdom Teeth Extractions and Repairing bone loss from past infection and tooth loss. Conventional Bone grafts are done by purchasing a bone graft product alone from a pharmaceutical company and placing it into a surgical site. Conventional Grafts have been successful, but Natural Grafts heal faster with stronger healthier bone, less surgical swelling, and a greater chance of graft success. Superior results of Natural and Biological Grafts can be attributed to the use of the patients own Bone Growth Factors and Blood products as opposed to the use of a pharmaceutical bone product alone.
Holistic Bone Grafts should be used for the following procedures:
- Dental Implants
- Tooth Extraction Sites aka Socket Preservation
- Areas of Bone Loss
- Bone Pathology
- Sinus Lifts or Sinus Augmentation Surgery
How do Holistic or Biological Bone Grafts Work?
- Draw Blood as in the way it is drawn during a routine medical examine
- Spin the needed amount of blood to create PRF or Platelet rich Fibrin
- Spin more blood to get the necessary amount of I PRF or Injectable PRF
- Prepare and mix PRF with bone graft particles. This is often called “sticky bone”
- Clean Surgical site of any scar tissue and apply O3 / 02 ( oxygen and dental ozone gas )
- The Natural Graft can now be placed in the surgical graft site
- I PRF is dripped onto the graft after the graft is placed into the surgical site
- PRF is placed on top of the site and stitched in place
The result of a Natural Bone graft is a concentration of bone minerals, bone growth factors, fibrin, platelets and white blood cells formulated in a way to be stable and promote rapid healing in jaw bone sites. The goal of a Natural or Biological graft is to promote fast bone healing / bone growth and prevent jaw bone infection.
Is it necessary to get a bone Graft? For Implants? Tooth Extractions?
Jaw bone has very little blood supply and therefore very little defense against infection. Think about what happens when a tooth is pulled – Usually the dental surgeon removes the tooth, places a cotton gauze, pats you on the back and says you will fine. This what happens if bone graft or socket preservation is not done. This is the equivalent of sending you out the door with an open hole in your jaw. All mouths have bacteria among other stuff that does not belong down in the jaw bone. Surprise, surprise, what ends up in an open extraction site is bacteria, food and eventually gum tissue grows down in the hole and if you are lucky, some bone may fill the hole in. Many times infections can be found as pockets of bacteria in places where the jaw bone not heal properly. Additionally, the bone surrounding the site can collapse and be lost.
Bone grafts are necessary to prevent bone infection and bone loss when tooth extractions and dental implants are done. The consequences can be dental implant failure, dry socket, persistent jaw bone infection and possibly even the need for hospitalization and in-patient treatment for complications related to an advanced infection of dental origin.
Consequences of infections related to poorly managed extraction sites can be painless and insidious. Impacted Wisdom Teeth and Root Canal Extraction sites can be especially susceptible to poor healing. Many Wisdom teeth are difficult to be removed and healing complications related with wisdom tooth removal can be a common occurrence. Root Canal Extractions can be difficult because the teeth tend to break into pieces during oral surgeon removal. Root Canal Teeth are dead teeth and are brittle. Root Canal teeth often have small undetectable pockets of long-standing chronic low grade infections. Root Canal Teeth also have filling materials in the roots that can be irritating to some immune systems. Long story short, the bone health around root canal teeth has a tendency to be poor and jaw bone healing around root canal teeth has a tendency to be questionable and unpredictable. The occurrence of dry socket and persistent bone infection secondary to Root Canal extraction is high.
Root Canal extractions should be managed with care and should always be evaluated at a later date to be sure jaw bone healing is normal. The healing should be checked by looking at the gum tissue in the mouth and taking a diagnostic X-ray ( preferably a 3D cone beam CBCT ).
My personal opinion is PRF and Biological bone grafting should always be performed when Impacted Wisdom Teeth are removed and Root Canal Teeth are extracted. To not do so is asking for trouble – akin to going out on the frontline of battle without a bullet proof vest- foolish.