Bone Regeneration

Did you know that scientific advances now allow us to grow your bone? Every day in our practice, we help patients who have lost bone due to trauma, tooth loss, or periodontal disease. Even if you have been told you are not a candidate for implants due to severe bone loss, we can very likely help you with advanced procedures that are routine in our practice. All procedures are done under local anesthesia. You can drive yourself home and be back at work the very next day! Here are a few of these techniques.

Periodontal Regeneration

Saving teeth is our first treatment choice. As a result of advanced periodontal disease, bone loss may occur. Depending on the shape of the defect, this bone can be frequently be regenerated by using procedures such as bone grafting or laser (LANAP) regeneration.

A bone graft replaces missing bone with material from the patient’s own body or an artificial, synthetic, or natural substitute. The graft replaces your missing bone and acts as a scaffold to allow your body regenerate its own bone. Over time your own newly formed bone will replace much of the grafted material.

Growing Bone for Implant Options

Have you been told you can’t have implants because you don’t have enough bone? That is almost never true anymore because revolutionary techniques have been developed such as sinus grafts, block grafts, and Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) which can replace the bone you lost over the years. At Fetner & Hartigan, we do these advanced procedures every day.

Sinus Grafts and sinus push

Fetner & Hartigan is dedicated to using minimally invasive procedures whenever appropriate. Our practice was one of the first to offer the sinus push, a very conservative procedure where your own bone is used to lift the sinus gently, just in the area where the implant is to be placed. Because this saves you time and money, we use this procedure whenever possible.

If the bone below your sinus is not thick enough to support implants, we can do a procedure called a lateral sinus graft. A small window is created to access the sinus, then the sinus membrane is gently teased up and a bone graft is placed. Several months later, your own bone will fill that space. Often, your implants can be placed at the time of the sinus graft. Normal activities can be resumed the very next day!

Block Grafts

With this procedure, we borrow a block of bone from your jaw and move it to where we need it so you can get implants. Sometimes we can use bone from other sources. As with the sinus graft, you can drive home and return to work the next day.

Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR)

This amazing procedure works by using a flexible membrane to create a space above the deficient ridge. The space is filled with a bone graft which is a scaffold for your own bone to grow into and eventually replace. Several months later, you have regrown your own bone and can now have implants and that nice juicy steak you’ve been missing! (Or a nice crunchy vegan salad!)