Bone augmentation, or grafting, may be necessary in various situations, e.g. prior to implant placement to regenerate enough bone tissue for the planned implant. It is also used in periodontology in order to reverse the bone loss caused by periodontal disease. Basically, there are three types of bone graft: autogenous bone taken from another area, bone taken from another individual or artificial bone.
In implantology, the most common bone grafting techniques are bone adsorption (autogenous bone taken from another area or artificial bone), bone spreading with subsequent insertion of autogenous bone or a xenograft, distraction osteogenesis (forming new bone tissue by gradually moving apart bone segments), sinus lift in the upper jaw, insertion of autogenous bone or a xenograft into the basis of the maxillary sinus.
The augmentation and immediate implantation can be done in the same session if the amount of augmentation needed is not to much. If the remaining bone is less then 5-6 mm, the augmentation and the implantation has to be done in 2 steps.
First augmentation, with a healing period up to 4-6 months. Only after perfect healing of the inserted augmented bone is guaranteed, the implantation of the artificail roots can be carried out.
Bone augmentation is also used in periodontologie to enhance and regenerate the bone level. See periodontology.