Most people don’t know that it is possible to lose bone volume in the jaw, but bone deterioration is commonplace due to tooth loss, gum disease or trauma to the jaw. When you have lost bone in your jaw, you will likely experience loose, shifting teeth, tooth sensitivity and you may even notice your facial appearance sinking inwards, giving you a prematurely aged appearance. Additionally, bone loss makes it difficult to replace missing or failing teeth with dental implants because there is not enough bone volume for the implant to grow to. Dr. Thornell offers a solution to bone loss through bone grafting or guided bone regeneration. Bone grafting is a procedure that restores lost bone volume to rebuild the jaw and create a healthy environment for implants to be placed.
One of Dr. Thornell’s bone grafting techniques is to utilize biological healing to improve the treatment experience and results. Plasma rich growth factors (L-PRF) are an advanced bone grafting supplement that utilizes proteins found in the plasma from the patient’s own blood to speed up the healing and regeneration of the tissues. Dr. Thornell has received advanced training in this biological enhancement as well as training in vertical and horizontal ridge augmentation, sinus lift augmentation and guided bone and soft tissue regeneration. With this advanced understanding of bone physiology and ways to enhance it, we can rebuild even the most damaged of jaws to allow for the placement of dental implants.