Bone Grafting
Rebuilding lost jaw bone ahead of implant placement — including socket preservation, guided bone regeneration, autogenous grafting and sinus lift procedures.
What is it?
Bone grafting rebuilds jawbone that has been lost, or is naturally insufficient, to support an implant — restoring the height, width or volume needed for a stable, well-positioned placement.
What causes it?
Once a tooth is lost, the bone that supported it begins to resorb. Long-term denture wear, periodontal disease, and natural anatomy — such as a low sinus floor in the upper jaw — can also reduce the bone available for an implant.
Types of treatment
- Socket preservation
- When a tooth is removed, the surrounding bone naturally begins to shrink within weeks. Socket preservation places a graft material into the empty socket straight after extraction, often covered with a collagen membrane, to hold the ridge’s shape and volume — keeping the site suitable for an implant later without a larger rebuilding procedure.
- Guided bone regeneration
- Used where the jaw ridge has already narrowed or lost height, guided bone regeneration rebuilds the missing width or volume with a particulate graft material held in place under a barrier membrane. The membrane keeps faster-growing soft tissue out of the graft site while new bone forms underneath, over a healing period of several months ahead of implant placement.
- Autogenous bone grafting
- For larger defects needing more bone volume than grafting material alone can reliably provide, a small graft is taken from the patient’s own bone — commonly from elsewhere in the jaw — and fixed at the deficient site. Because it’s the patient’s own living bone it integrates predictably, and is often combined with guided bone regeneration for more extensive rebuilding.
- Sinus lift procedure
- In the upper back jaw, the sinus sits close to the tooth roots, and once those teeth are lost the sinus floor gradually drops further, leaving too little bone height for an implant. A sinus lift gently raises the sinus membrane and packs graft material into the space created beneath it, adding the height needed to place an implant securely — via a lateral window or a more conservative crestal approach, depending on how much height is required.
Considering this treatment?
Send a few details — patients and referring dentists both welcome — and Dr Zafar's team will be in touch.