Jaw Bone Expansion
Not having enough amount of bone is a contraindication for dental implants. However, it is often possible to augment the jaw bone to allow placement of an adequately sized dental implants. Bone augmentation or grafting is unpredictable sometimes. Jaw bone expansion is, on the other hand, predictable when performed properly.
Jaw bone expansion is an easy way to augment the bone in the upper jaw. The upper jaw bone is softer than the lower jaw bone and is more amenable to expansion. The upper jaw or maxilla is quite easy to expand at the time of dental implant placement.
After adequate anesthesia, or numbing, the gum is separated from the underlying bone at the implant site. Then, the bone is drilled as in a standard case, but before reaching the final drilling diameter, the osteotomy (the hole drilled into the bone) is sequentially widened with expanding screws or chisels, thereby expanding the width of the bone. The diameter of the proposed implant size and available amount of bone will determine the exact sizes of the expanding screws. Then final drill is used before the insertion of a dental implant.
Generally the patient feels some pressure while the bone is expanded, and the pressure felt is easily controlled with post operative medications . After the bone heals around the implant, the dental implant can be restored with a crown as usual. You can expect to have slight bone loss at the crest of the jaw bone ridge around the implant. It is wise to place the implant 1 mm or so deeper than usual in order to compensate for the slight bone loss.
Bone expansion in the lower jaw is not quite predictable because the lower jaw bone is too dense and hard for gentle expansion. Ridge splitting is a more preferred method when the width of the lower jaw bone needs to be widened. Will all upper jaw cases require and or allow bone expansion? May be not. Ask your dentist more about bone expansion in the upper jaw.
