Bone Graft Material for Dental Implants: What are they?
Since dental implants are placed into the jaw bone and held by the jaw bone, there has to be enough of good quality bone. What happens when there is enough bone? Many people ask this question. The answer can be quite simple. If there isn’t enough, make more bone. To make more bone at the dental implant site, bone grafting can be done. In this article, I would like to describe a little about the bone graft material for dental implants.
- First of all, the patient’s own bone can be used, usually taken from another place in the mouth and grafted onto the site of implant placement. Patient’s own bone is classified as autogenous bone. Autogenous bone can be taken from the back area of the mouth (ramus of the mandible) or near the chin or from other places, usually in either block or particulated forms. Autogenous bone is considered to be the “gold standard” because it seems to give the most predictable result.
- Bone from other human donors can also be used. Donated bone is processed and sterilized for use in various applications. This type of graft material is classified as allogenic graft. Most tissue banks keep tight control over their sterilization process and keep records of where and how the allogenic graft material is used in dental offices. The risk of contracting any disease or having an allergic reaction to allogenic graft is very rare.
- Bone from other species, such as cows, can also be used. Animal bone is processed and sterilized, any organic material in the bone is also removed to reduce allergic reaction or other unwanted side effects. These graft material is called xenogenic graft material. There are several companies producing this type of bone graft material, and these materials have been used successfully for many years without any reports of significant side effects.
- Other graft material used include Calcium Tri Phosphates, glass beads (not your regular glass marbles, though) and many others. These graft material is called synthetic graft and offer some advantages (freedom from risk of contracting disease from infected donors) over certain other graft material.
What will your dentist use for your case? As you can see there are different types of bone graft material for dental implants. Every type of grafting material has its advantages and disadvantages. Which type is best for you can only be determined by your dentist. Make sure that you discuss your concerns about the graft material that your dentist proposes to use.
