Socket Preservation

Your teeth have many important roles in your mouth. In addition to biting and chewing, the teeth are important for speech as well as for a beautiful smile. Teeth also play an integral role in the health of your jawbone. These reasons are why when your teeth are affected by oral health issues the ideal solution is to save them, allowing them to stay in their sockets. While preferred, saving teeth is not always possible, and they may need to be extracted. Following tooth extraction, an empty socket is left behind, leaving you susceptible to shifting teeth and other issues. At Optimum Oral Surgery Group, we can help to protect the health and integrity of your jawbone following extraction with socket preservation.

Reasons for a Tooth Extraction

While saving damaged or otherwise compromised teeth is always the preferred solution, there are a few reasons why you may require extraction.

Bone Loss Following a Tooth Extraction

One of the jobs of your teeth is to help maintain the strength of your jawbone. When you chew, the teeth stimulate your bone, which tells the body to send essential nutrients to the jaw and surrounding areas. When a tooth is extracted, an empty socket is left behind. Without the tooth, the jaw loses some of its stimulation. Less nutrients are sent, which leads to the bone losing mass and becoming weak. Your adjacent teeth begin shifting out of alignment. As the bone weakens, it becomes more difficult for dental implants to be placed as a treatment for replacement.

So, What is a Socket Preservation?

Socket preservation is a procedure performed following tooth extraction. The goal of this treatment is to fill in the empty socket left behind, preventing the risk of surrounding bone collapsing into the empty space. Socket preservation involves the use of a bone graft, which involves taking bone mass from another area of your body or a donor and transplanting it into the socket.

Socket preservation is a surgical procedure. Following the extraction of your tooth, incisions are made in the gum tissue to expose the empty socket. We then place the harvested bone graft material into the socket and suture your gums closed. After you have healed, we can then begin the process of placing the dental implant.

The Benefits of a Socket Preservation

There are many benefits associated with socket preservation. These benefits include:

If you need to have a tooth extracted, socket preservation can help to protect the integrity of your jawbone and make it easier to place dental implants. For more information, and to schedule your consultation, call Optimum Oral Surgery Group at (856) 437-4432 today.