What is bone plastic in dentistry?

What is bone plastic in dentistry?

Bone grafting is necessary when the volume of the jawbone is insufficient to secure a dental implant. Depending on the volume of bone tissue, the dentist determines whether it is possible to implant teeth or not. The bigger the jaw bone and the denser it is, the more chances for implants to take root. The implant must be surrounded by at least one, and preferably two, millimeters of bone material in order to be securely fixed.

If the bone is not enough, bone plastic is performed and when the bone increases, teeth are implanted. The volume and density of the jaw bone is precisely determined by the dentist on the basis of computer tomography, where the jaw, bone density, direction of roots, blood vessels and soft tissues are measured.

Why is bone plastic needed?

When teeth are lost, there is no normal mechanical load on the jaw bone. If the space between the teeth is not treated in time, the bones and gums "retreat". The jaw bone may be affected by diseases that have caused a jaw defect or bone loss, resulting in the alveolar ridge being too narrow or too low for an implant and requiring bone augmentation, i.e., bone grafting. Similar to muscles that have not been trained for a long time and therefore regress, the same applies to the bones of the jaw.

Implantation of teeth becomes possible only if there is a sufficient amount of bone tissue. Therefore, the main advantage of bone plastic surgery is that patients with such a problem have a chance to restore the dentition, full chewing function and a healthy smile. Among the disadvantages of bone tissue augmentation are the possibility of inflammation and rejection of bone material. However, the probability that the substitute will not be able to fuse properly with the natural bone and will have to be changed again is very small.