Bone Grafting
The term "periodontal
defect" generally refers to a loss of bone
and tooth attachment around the roots of your
teeth. It is sometimes also called a "periodontal
pocket," which refers to the small pocket
of empty space that forms between the tooth root
and the bone.
Why does bone grafting help?
By including bone grafting in an overall procedure
to restore the tooth's attachment, dentists
have found that they can regenerate lost bone
and the ligaments that hold a tooth to that
bone, restoring your tooth to its original state
and insuring that you will have use of it for
a good long time.
What is the procedure?
The doctor will cut and pull back the gum tissue
around the tooth (called "flap surgery")
to gain access to the tooth root and surrounding
bone. The tooth root is cleaned via a procedure
called "scaling and planning" to remove
all accumulated tartar and calculus so that
the tooth will reattach to periodontal ligaments.
The bone grafting material is placed in the
area of missing bone and the gum tissues are
replaced and sutured closed.
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