Ridge Augmentation

Sometimes when you lose one or more teeth, you can get an indention in your gums and jawbone where the tooth used to be. This happens because the jawbone recedes when it no longer is holding a tooth in place.

Not only is this indentation unnatural looking, it also causes the replacement tooth to look too long compared to the adjacent teeth. In severe cases, the ridge has been reabsorbed and a bone graft is placed to increase ridge height and/or width.

Ridge Augmentation is a technique used to restore the lost bone dimension when the jaw ridge gets too thin to place conventional implants.  In this procedure, the bony ridge of the jaw is literally expanded by mechanical means.  Bone graft material can be placed and matured for a few months before placing the implant.