Ridge Augmentation

 

When you lose one or more teeth, a small indention in your gums and jawbone will form where the tooth used to be. This happens because the jawbone recedes when it no longer is holding a tooth in place. This indentation can sometimes cause a replacement tooth to look too long compared to the adjacent teeth.

Ridge Augmentation Procedure

Ridge augmentation is a procedure that recaptures the natural contour of your gums and jaw. We use the ridge augmentation procedure to prepare a site for dental implants. In the areas where teeth have been missing, the bone naturally begins to shrink, creating insufficient bone to support dental implants.

• Autograft – Autograft is when we used grafting material that comes from the patient. Periodontists have been using the jawbones of patients to harvest grafts to help regenerate bone for years. However, there are now other options that can be used instead of your own bone. These are described below.
• Allograft – In this case, the grafting material comes from donated pieces of bone that have been sterilized and refined. During the healing process, the graft material fuses with your current bone to allow more stable support for dental implants.
• Alloplast – Synthetic bone substitutes can now be used instead of bone grafts. 

For more information about dental implants or how to prepare your mouth for them, please contact Highlands Ranch Periodontics. We are located in Highlands Ranch, Colorado but we also see patients from the surrounding areas including Wolhurst, Southglenn, Centennial, Lone Tree, and Columbine, Colorado.