Periodontic care can not only manage serious issues like periodontal disease, but we can provide solutions for missing teeth too. But if your tooth loss has left your lower jaw weakened, you may need a ridge augmentation, also known as jawbone grafting, to ensure you can support dental implants. In today’s blog, your Encinitas/San Diego, CA, periodontist talks about laser jawbone grafting.
How Tooth Loss Weakens Your Jaw
When you lose teeth to issues like periodontitis (the advanced stage of gum disease), this leaves behind gaps in your smile. These gaps are linked to misalignment and even issues eating your favorite foods or speaking clearly. But the most severe complication is the loss of mass and density in the jaw, which happens as the body suspends the flow of calcium and phosphorus to areas without tooth roots. These portions break down, which can lead to further tooth loss and an aged appearance. You also may not be able to support dental implants! But we can strengthen the areas with laser-assisted jawbone grafting.
The Grafting Process
With the ridge augmentation, we will take detailed digital x-rays and CT images of your jaw, so we can analyze the weakened portions and plan treatment in detail. To ensure your comfort during the process, our team will administer a local anesthetic and sedation, so you feel relaxed and calm, with little or no memory of the process.
We then add new structures to these weakened areas, which could be in the form of synthetic tissues, donor tissue, or portions of bone taken from other parts of your own body, such as the rear of your jaw, your knee, or your hip.
Assistance with Dental Lasers
We use lasers to help make any necessary adjustments to your gums and underlying structures during the process. The laser can provide these changes with precision and destroy harmful oral bacteria in the process. When the procedure is complete and the area heals, we can then discuss replacing your missing teeth with dental implants, inserting them into the jaw to act like new roots. Our team can then complete an individual one with a dental crown, or use several to support a bridge or possibly a complete set of dentures.
If you have any questions about how we conduct a ridge augmentation to protect your smile, or about replacing missing teeth with dental implants, then contact our team today to learn more.
Schedule Your Appointment for Ridge Augmentation
We want to help you fortify your smile to support one or more dental implants, so you can enjoy a full smile again. To learn more about how our team will strengthen your smile with advanced technology, call Dr. Ann Kania in Encinitas, CA, today at 760-642-0711.