Bone Grafts
Bone grafting in dentistry is a procedure aimed at restoring or augmenting bone in the jaw to provide a stable foundation for dental implants or other oral prostheses. This technique involves the transplantation of bone tissue from either the patient's body, a donor, or synthetic materials to jaw areas with insufficient bone density or volume. Bone grafts promote new bone growth by serving as a scaffold for the body's natural bone-forming cells to populate and integrate.
Commonly used bone graft materials include autografts (bone harvested from the patient's own body), allografts (bone from a donor), xenografts (bone from another species), and alloplasts (synthetic bone substitutes). Bone grafting procedures are crucial for patients with significant bone loss due to factors such as tooth extraction, periodontal disease, trauma, or congenital defects, enabling them to undergo successful dental implant placement and achieve optimal oral function and aesthetics.