Home / Bone Grafting
Bone grafting
Bone leaves
when the root does.
Jawbone exists to hold teeth. Take the tooth away and within months the ridge begins to narrow and shorten. Grafting rebuilds it — and preserving it at the extraction is cheaper than rebuilding it later.
Why people come here
- Surgery and the finished teeth done by one dentist, under one roof
- Diplomate of the International Congress of Oral Implantologists
- Fellow of the Misch Institute — and faculty at its successor
- A written, itemized plan before anything is scheduled
Why it happens
Most of the width goes in the first year.
The ridge loses a meaningful share of its width in the first twelve months after an extraction, and it never fully comes back on its own. Denture wearers see the same process run for decades, which is why long-term denture wearers often have very little ridge left.
Grafting places material into the site that the body slowly replaces with its own bone. It is not glue and it is not a filler — it is a scaffold that gets remodelled.
The main situations
- Ridge preservation — grafting the socket the day the tooth comes out
- Ridge augmentation — rebuilding width or height before an implant can be placed
- Sinus elevation — height in the upper back jaw, covered on its own page
- Grafting alongside placement — a small defect filled as the implant goes in
Materials
What actually goes in.
Processed graft material
Sterile, extensively documented and used for the large majority of cases. It acts as a scaffold and is gradually replaced by your own bone.
Your own bone
Harvested from a nearby site when a larger defect calls for it. It remodels fastest, at the cost of a second surgical site.
Recovery
What the week after looks like.
Day of
Local anesthetic, gauze, and rest. Most small grafts take under an hour.
TodayDays 1–3
Swelling peaks and settles. Ordinary pain relief is usually enough for a small graft.
48–72 hrsWeek 1–2
Soft diet, no poking at the site, and no smoking — this is the part that most affects the result.
2 weeksMonths 3–6
The graft remodels into bone that can hold an implant. You feel nothing during this.
3–6 monthsQuestions
Grafting, answered.
Is it painful?
A socket graft at the time of extraction adds very little to the recovery you were having anyway. Larger augmentations are more involved, and we will be specific about yours before you agree to it.
How long before the implant?
Small grafts placed with an implant heal together. Standalone grafts usually need three to six months before the site is ready.
Can grafting be avoided?
Sometimes — by preserving the socket at extraction, by angling implants to use bone that is already there, or by choosing shorter implants where the anatomy allows. The imaging tells us which of those is honest in your case.
Start with an exam and a straight answer.
A consultation includes an examination, 3D imaging and a written, itemized plan. If implants are not the right treatment for you, Dr. Patellis will say so and tell you what is.