MINIMALLY INVASIVE DENTAL BONE GRAFTING

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Advanced surgical training and extensive experience in all fields of Dental Implantology, including Bone Grafting, Sinus Lifts and Multiple Dental Implants placements allow Dr. Andrews to complete a surgical phase in one visit in 85% of all cases. Cutting edge surgical protocol - use of Platelet Rich Fibrin, or PRF, dramatically reduces post-operative discomfort, shortens healing time, accelerates integration of implants and grafts and decreases the likelihood of most complications. ​

BONE GRAFTING
Sometimes, Dr. Andrews will need to increase the amount of bone in a patient's jaw. Recent developments in bone grafting techniques have made implant treatment possible in cases that would have been impossible just a few years ago. 
In the most common type of bone grafting, the jaw may already have enough bone to place the implant, but not enough bone to completely cover the sides of the implant. In such case Dr. Andrews combines bone graft with an implant placement.
The second  type of bone grafting is always done as a separate surgery from the implant placement.  This type of graft is intended to make large changes to the shape and size of the dental ridge so that a stable implant can be placed, usually 4-6 months later. These procedures are performed by Dr. Andrews on a regular basis .
Luciana W.
Great service Dr.Andrew is EXCELLENT had a pretty complex procedure with two implants extraction and lots of bone graft. Very satisfied and pleasantly surprised some discomfort but very manageable. Dr Andrew is very professional and very gentle. I highly recommend him and his staff. So happy I found Dentology.

​DENTAL BONE GRAFTING FAQs

Q - Will a bone graft be needed in my case?
A - Certainly the larger procedures can be planned well in advance; however, the smaller grafts done at the time of implant placement cannot always be predicted. Dr. Andrews will discuss your case in detail and will provide you with all treatment options available.

Q - Where does grafted bone come from?
A - Bone graft material comes from four general sources. Very often Dr. Andrews is able to use your own available bone, which he carefully collects during implant placement or teeth extraction procedures. When a bigger volume of graft is needed, freeze dried human bone from a tissue bank, mixed with patient's bone is used. Other sources include processed bone elements from animals, and a mineral bone substitute.

EXTRACTION AND BONE GRAFTING WITH IMMEDIATE IMPLANT PLACEMENT
Q - Are all types of bone graft material equally effective?
A - The most effective graft material is your own natural bone, then freeze dried human bone, followed by processed animal bone, and lastly, mineral bone substitute. To increase effectiveness of the bone grafting, Dr. Andrews uses PRF (platelet-rich fibrin) and has seen remarkable results with it. PRF is a growth factors saturated blood clot made from your own blood. Prior to the surgery our phlebotomist will draw 20-40ml of your blood and prepare a PRF to be placed into the surgical site later. PRF is a  recent innovation in dentistry, a suspension of Concentrated Growth Factors (CGF), found in platelets of the patient's blood. These growth factors are involved in wound healing and promote tissue regeneration. Use of PRF promotes healing, decreases risk of infection, decreases post operative discomfort and pain.

Q - Is bone grafting safe?
A - The safest, and most desirable source of bone grafting material comes from your own body. Drilling jawbone for implant placement naturally produces bone shavings. These shavings are cleanly collected by Dr. Andrews and used as grafting materials. In the cases of larger grafts, surgical procedures have been developed to harvest additional bone from other places in your body. Also completely sterile, although the least effective, are mineral bone substitutes. Most popular mineral graft materials do not remain in the body, but are naturally absorbed by the body and replaced by healthy bone. Consider receiving human donor bone or animal bone elements to be the same as receiving blood from the blood bank, with a similar level of risk.  The processing techniques used to prepare the freeze dried bone and the animal bone elements results in graft materials which have proven to be extremely safe. Also Dr. Andrews uses only materials from a reputable, well managed national tissue bank in the U.S.  There is, theoretically, an extremely small chance that infectious disease could be transmitted through either of these materials.
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Risks
As with any procedure, there are risks involved; these include reactions to medicine, bleeding and infections. Infection is reported to occur in less than 1% of cases and is curable with antibiotics. Overall, patients with a preexisting illness are at a higher risk of getting an infection as opposed to those who are overall healthy. 
To reduce and prevent any possible risks during bone grafting, Dr. Andrews uses PRF for all his bone grafts surgeries. Being a natural blood clot itself, PRF stops any bleeding. Since PRF has plenty of your white blood cells - lymphocytes and leukocytes - it dramatically reduces risk of infections. Presence of concentrated platelets, packed with growth factors, stimulates regeneration, promotes faster healing and reduces post surgical discomfort.