Ridge Augmentation

Sometimes you can get an indentation in your gums and jawbone where a tooth was removed or never developed. This may be a result of infection that destroyed the bone, trauma when the tooth was lost, or because the jawbone recedes when it no longer is holding a tooth in place. This indentation is unnatural looking and it may cause the replacement tooth to look long and unesthetic as a result of the bone atrophy or resorption.

In the past, many patients were not considered to be good candidates for implant therapy due to this poor quality and quantity of bone.  Fortunately, today, Dr. Hyde, Dr. Greising and Dr. Tzanos have the ability to grow bone where needed in many situations.

Oftentimes, we can prevent this problem from occurring. Careful management of tissues after tooth extraction prevents unsightly bone loss and results in a better cosmetic outcome of your tooth replacement.

If the destruction is already present, the doctors at Northwest Periodontics & Implants can fill in this defect with a ridge augmentation procedure. This procedure will often improve not only the esthetics, but it will likely simplify the oral hygiene techniques required to maintain optimal health.

With Ridge Augmentation Procedure
Careful management of the tissues following extraction of the hopeless tooth shown above helped retain optimal bone support for future restorative considerations. An implant retained crown was the restorative solution of choice. This result may not have been achieved without the ridge augmentation procedure.

Without Ridge Augmentation Procedure
A compromised esthetic result may be achieved without a ridge augmentation procedure to enhance the outcome. Photos above show ridge deficiency and restorative result.