Restore Lost Bone
Have you had a tooth missing for many years or noticed that other teeth have shifted out of place? You may have a weakened jaw bone. Tooth loss and oral disease can cause the jaw bone to deteriorate. Similar to muscles that atrophy if they go unused for prolonged periods of time, the jaw bone can atrophy or resorb if a missing tooth is not replaced. Our surgeons have the ability to maintain and even regrow bone that has resorbed so that you can qualify for dental implants. This treatment is called bone grafting.
At Utah Surgical Arts, our oral surgeons and knowledgeable staff perform several bone grafting procedures to help patients rebuild lost bone and become candidates for dental implants.. Contact us in Provo, Payson, South Jordan, and Lehi, UT, today to learn about your bone grafting options.
Types of Bone Grafts at Utah Surgical Arts
Our oral surgeons perform many bone grafting treatments. During the consultation with Dr. Harris, Dr. Park, Dr. Brown, Dr. Wood, or Dr. Holladay, we will determine if you need bone grafts, and the type of treatment to improve your oral health. Depending on your specific condition, your doctor may perform any of these procedures separately or together; they are most often performed separately from the dental implant procedure. These treatments include:
- Socket Preservation. Once a tooth is extracted, artificial bone is placed in the socket to help preserve the bone and gum tissue for implant placement.
- Ridge Expansion. In severe cases, the ridge has been resorbed, and a bone graft is placed to increase ridge height and/or width.
- Sinus Lift Procedure. This procedure involves elevating the sinus membrane and placing a bone graft onto the sinus floor, allowing implants to be placed in the back part of the upper jaw.
- Nerve Repositioning. The inferior alveolar nerve, which gives feeling to the lower lip and chin, may need to be moved to make room for placement of dental implants to the lower jaw.
In most cases, your doctor will use particulate freeze-dried bone from a tissue bank or a bone mineral substitute. In some cases, when a large quantity of bone is necessary, the material is taken from your own bone, either from inside the mouth, from the hip, or from the tibia at the knee.
Socket preservation maintains an empty tooth socket and makes future implant placement easier.
Tissue Grafting
Patients suffering from gum recession are encouraged to have a tissue graft, or gum graft, to protect teeth from damage and rebuild the gums. When the gum tissue recedes, the tissue surrounding the teeth pulls away, exposing the tooth and root. Patients are strongly encouraged to monitor oral health regularly, as gum recession is a slow, gradual process and easily goes unnoticed at first.
If you suffer from gum recession, your oral surgeon may suggest one of three different types of tissue grafts:
- Connective Tissue Grafts. Tissue is removed from under a flap of skin cut in the roof of the mouth. The tissue is then stitched to the gum surrounding an exposed tooth root, and the flap is stitched closed.
- Free Gingival Grafts. This is similar to a connective tissue graft, except tissue is removed directly from the roof of the mouth, not from under a flap. This is a common procedure for patients with thin gums.
- Pedicle Grafts. A flap of tissue called a pedicle is partially cut from the gum near the exposed tooth root. With one edge remaining connected, the tissue is pulled and stitched to cover the exposed tooth root.
As with bone grafting, your own tissue can be used. However, graft material can be obtained from a tissue bank. One advantage of taking the tissue graft from a tissue bank is that if donor tissue is used, a second surgical site or donor site is not necessary.
When it comes to your oral health, trust in the experts who have been positively serving patients in Utah since 1998. We have offices in Provo, Payson, South Jordan, and Lehi, where we perform bone grafting procedures and restorative surgeries, helping more patients achieve healthier smiles.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)
Platelet-rich plasma, or PRP, uses your own blood to promote faster healing following oral surgery. PRP contains many platelets, which release growth factors to heal wounds. Your surgeon draws a small amount of blood, spins it in a centrifuge to collect the plasma, and administers the plasma directly to the surgical site.
We create PRP using your own blood and administer it directly to the surgical site to expedite recovery.
AAAHC Accreditation
Utah Surgical Arts is approved by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). This accreditation is difficult to obtain and allows our office to function as a hospital and/or surgical center. Since extensive surgeries must be performed in a surgical center, there are many instances where the patient may be unable to undergo surgery due to the high cost of the hospital or surgical center. If your surgery can be performed at Utah Surgical Arts, the cost savings may be significant. Many patients who were unable to have the procedure due to the high cost involved were able to have the procedure performed at Utah Surgical Arts. Learn More.
Types of Anesthesia
Our surgeons at Utah Surgical Arts offer many anesthesia and sedation options for patients to choose from.
Reviews From Our Bone Grafting Patients
"Hi, I'm Erin from Alpine. I've had an extraction, two dental implants, and a sinus lift. I love the staff at Utah Surgical Arts. They're kind and generous with their smiles. My doctor is an expert in making me feel comfortable and putting me at ease. My procedure went quick, as expected, and easy. My recovery was uneventful. I've had a fantastic experience. I wholeheartedly recommend Utah Surgical Arts for all your dental needs."
"I had my daughter bring me a salad, and I took a bite and bit down on a bacon bit, and it broke my tooth in half right here. I went and saw Dr. Park, and he put me out, removed the rest of the tooth, did a bone graft, and then went in later and put in a titanium rod, and now my smile is all back. He was great to work with — happy, easy to talk to. I was really impressed that he would call and that Dr. Park would check on me and not just tell somebody to do it or it was their responsibility or whatever. He contacted me. I refer people here all the time and will continue to do that."
"Hi, my name is Jodi, and I’m from Lehi, and I came to Utah Surgical Arts for an extraction, a bone graft, and an implant. When I first walked through the doors at Utah Surgical Arts—first of all, the building is absolutely stunning. It is beautiful, and the people at the front desk were kind and courteous. The doctor here knew exactly what I needed. He spent plenty of time explaining the procedure. He answered all of my questions. The procedure was as I expected. The recovery has been smooth. The office has checked on me several times. They even sent flowers. Overall, I had a fantastic experience, and I would highly recommend Utah Surgical Arts to anyone I know."
"Well, I had gone to see my dentist and had some problems with my teeth, and they needed to be extracted. Dr. Park was wonderful to go through and explain everything, and that really helped me decide that those were the things that I needed to have done. It really helped to ease my nerves when I knew that Dr. Park was a medical doctor as well as a dentist. I think the extraction went well. I have my crowns in, and it has been wonderful to be able to eat again and to have it feel normal. I have recommended my family and friends to Dr. Park because he has been fabulous."
"Hi, I’m Scott. I’m from Cedar Hills, UT, and I came in for a procedure to fix a sinus — have some sinus surgery done for a bone in my — I don’t know how to explain it — the bone in my head. He was able to go in and clean out the damage that I’ve had mostly from a cavity. It started out in a cavity, and they kept trying to fix the cavity, and they’d go in and clean it out and fill it up, and then they’d drill it back out because I’d be in pain and I’d swell up again — the whole side of my face just kind of swelled up. Finally, I was recommended to come down and see Dr. Harris. It’s good as new now. So if any of you need any facial surgical work done, I highly recommend Utah Surgical Arts. Anybody in the surrounding areas — Utah County, Provo, I’m from Cedar Hills as I said earlier, Pleasant Grove, Lindon, all of those areas — I'd highly recommend that you come in to see Dr. Harris."
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At Utah Surgical Arts, we pride ourselves on the levels of compassion, integrity, and successful results that each patient receives. Use the buttons below to learn more and begin your treatment with us.