Why would I need a bone graft before an implant?
An implant needs to be surrounded by healthy bone to stay stable. After a tooth is lost, the bone that once held its root no longer receives chewing forces and gradually shrinks in height and width. Long-standing gum disease, infection or an injury can cause further loss. If too little bone remains, an implant could be exposed or unstable, so the area is rebuilt first.
A bone graft places material into the deficient area to act as a scaffold. Over the following months, your own bone grows into it and gradually replaces or incorporates it, creating a firmer base.
Common types of grafting
- Socket preservation: graft material is placed right after a tooth extraction to limit shrinkage while the site heals.
- Simultaneous grafting: small gaps around a newly placed implant are filled during the same surgery.
- Ridge augmentation: a narrow or short ridge is rebuilt, often covered with a protective membrane, before implants are placed.
- Sinus grafting: bone is added beneath the sinus floor in the upper back jaw; see our sinus lift page.
Graft materials may come from different sources, including processed natural bone or synthetic substitutes. Your dentist will explain which material is proposed and why.
Who needs grafting, and who doesn't?
Grafting is often needed when a tooth has been missing for a long time, when an infected tooth destroyed surrounding bone, or when advanced gum disease has caused bone loss. On the other hand, many patients have enough bone for straightforward placement and need no graft at all. The only reliable way to know is to measure the bone in three dimensions.
Where bone loss is linked to gum disease, the gums must be treated first. Our pages on periodontal treatment and gum and bone regeneration explain those steps.
How bone grafting is carried out at E&D Dental
- Measurement. Our HDX/HBX low-dose CBCT shows exactly where bone is lacking and by how much.
- Planning the sequence. We decide, and explain to you, whether the graft can be done at the same time as the implant or should be done first with the implant placed later.
- Anesthesia. The area is numbed with our 3-step painless anesthesia system, beginning with topical gel and Endo-Frost cold numbing before computer-controlled delivery of the anesthetic.
- Graft placement. The site is cleaned, the graft material is packed into the defect and, if needed, covered with a membrane. The gum is closed over it.
- Healing and review. The graft is left to mature. A follow-up scan or examination confirms the new bone before implant placement.
- Implant and stability testing. The implant is placed into the rebuilt site, and AnyCheck stability readings guide the timing of the final tooth.
Recovery after a bone graft
Swelling and some bruising are more common after grafting than after a simple implant, typically peaking within the first couple of days. You may notice a few small granules in your mouth; this is usually normal, but tell us if it continues.
- Avoid pressing on the area with your tongue or fingers.
- Do not wear a removable denture over the site unless we have adjusted it.
- Choose soft, cool foods and avoid hot drinks for the first day.
- Avoid smoking, which significantly reduces graft success.
- Take prescribed medication exactly as directed.
Our TMJ physical therapy device can be used after surgery to help ease pain and inflammation while tissues recover.
Risks and limitations
Possible complications include infection, exposure of the membrane through the gum, partial loss of graft material and swelling or numbness. A graft adds time to treatment, sometimes several months. Smoking, uncontrolled diabetes and pressure on the site increase the chance that the graft does not take fully, in which case additional grafting may be required.
Why Sanbon and Gunpo patients choose us for grafting
- We measure bone precisely with in-house 3D imaging rather than estimating from flat X-rays alone.
- Where it is safe, grafting is combined with implant placement to reduce the number of surgeries.
- Instruments are sterilised with careful infection control, including UV-C handpiece sterilization.
- Our dentists explain whether grafting is truly needed and what happens if you choose to wait.
Grafting can lengthen the overall timeline, which our guide on implant treatment duration explains. To find out whether you need a graft, book an implant consultation at our clinic near Sanbon Station.