Is Bone Grafting Safe?

When you lose a tooth, an implant is often placed to replace the tooth. The surgeon needs to scan your jaw to see if you have sufficient bone for surgery in the implant site. If you do not have enough bone in the implant site for a successful surgery, a bone graft may be required.

It is essential to learn about bone grafting in Los Angeles so that you know if it is safe before undergoing surgery for a dental implant. A bone graft is usually required when the jaw bone beneath the missing tooth has been weakened. It will help in the regeneration of the bone and can benefit patients who are not eligible for dental implants.

However, some people are worried about the safety of bone grafts before they proceed with dental implant surgery. Bone grafts depend on donor material and some people fear that they may catch diseases or other infections from bacteria.

Where are bone grafts performed?

You should have some idea about bone grafting near you so that you can allay the fears for your safety when you get a bone graft. A graft can be obtained from your own bone and there would be no risk of infection that can affect the bone graft. A bone can be harvested from your hip and you will need a day or two to recover from the surgery.

Bone grafts can also be obtained from donor bones and these save you from additional surgery. However, you should make sure that the surgeon has bones that are free of bacteria to ensure that bone grafting is safe. Surgeons can obtain graft bones from not-for-profit tissue banks and these are scanned for any infections before they are used for their intended purpose.

Why you can trust donor bone grafts

Donor bone grafts have a success rate of 87.5% and they also have an excellent record for safety so you should not worry about them. Bone grafts usually do not fail like other organ transplants. However, factors such as smoking and diabetes can contribute to the failure of bone grafts.

There is a high success rate for bone grafting because the risk of infection from the donor's bones is also low. The bone banks are strictly regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration and the American Association of Tissue Banks. The donor's bones are first tested and then sterilized before they are used.

The bones obtained from donors are also radiated in a bid to remove all organic contaminants. For that reason, there have been no cases of disease transmission reported in the last 30 years according to the Centers for Disease Control.

You must have good information about periodontics in Los Angeles so that you know what you can do if the original graft fails. You can get a new bone graft at a later period if the original one fails.

Steps taken by donor banks to ensure bone grafts are safe:

• All donor's bones are thoroughly screened before they are processed.
• All donor's bones are tested for infectious diseases such as Hepatitis, HIV as well as Syphilis.
• All bones are treated to remove blood products that carry bacteria that cause infections.
• Packaging samples are tested for sterility.

Visit your dental clinic for more information regarding periodontics near you to learn about the different measures that are taken to ensure that donor's bones are safe and successful. When you receive bone grafting in Los Angeles, you should be confident about the safety of the whole procedure. Dr. Andrew Satlin for instance prioritizes your safety so you should not worry about the risks of getting infections from a bone graft.