When Is Socket Preservation Treatment Necessary After Tooth Extraction?
Tooth extraction is one of the most common dental procedures people have. In most cases, patients return home after an extraction with no need for any further treatment. But in some cases, dentists may recommend preserving the socket following a tooth extraction. Dentists call this procedure socket preservation.
To carry out socket preservation after an extraction, dentists place a bone graft into the empty socket and then cover that bone graft with a collagen membrane. The bone for these grafts usually comes from a patient's own body, such as from their jaw or tibia. This bone integrates with other existing bone and keeps the alveolar bone ridge intact.
But why would you choose to undergo socket preservation therapy?
If you plan to get dental implants at a later date
If you want to replace the extracted tooth with a dental implant later, then socket preservation is a good idea following a tooth extraction. To integrate with the jawbone properly, dental implants need a sufficient density and volume of bone to be available. When sufficient bone is available, dental implants can better integrate with the jawbone and the results are more aesthetic.
Unfortunately, the human body begins to take the bone away from the site after a tooth extraction. The body then uses that bone elsewhere. This fact means that if you plan to wait a while before you get a dental implant after a tooth extraction, you may not have enough bone to support a dental implant later. Socket preservation treatments will ensure that you have enough bone.
If you don't undergo socket preservation treatment, then later you have to undergo a bone graft before you can replace the extracted tooth with a dental implant.
If You want to avoid a bone graft in future
Before you can undergo surgery to place a dental implant, your dentist needs to ascertain how much bone you have to support a dental implant. If you have waited too long after an extraction, you likely won't have enough bone to qualify for a dental implant. The only way to place a dental implant successfully when you have too little bone is to undergo bone grafting first.
Bone grafting can add more to the overall cost of your treatment. And bone grafting needs to heal for two to three months before a dentist can place a dental implant, which means your treatment will take longer. As such, to negate the need for a bone graft later, undergo socket preservation treatment just after a tooth extraction.
For more information about implant dentistry, contact a local dental office near you.
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