Bone Grafting
What is Bone Grafting?
Dental implants do more than serve as a realistic and functional tooth replacement; they help stabilize the jaw and preserve the health of the jaw bone just like natural teeth. They require strong, healthy jaw bone to be placed. If the jaw bone has suffered from atrophy or for other reasons and has resulted in soft or thin bone, a bone graft can be used to strengthen and improve bone growth to the jaw.
For a bone graft procedure, Dr. Curtis will take a section of bone from another area of the body or use a special grafting material and graft it into your jaw bone. Once the graft is placed, you will have to wait a few months for it to stabilize and fuse with your jaw bone. When your jaw bone is strong enough, then you are ready to receive a successful dental implant now that your jaw is healthy and stable enough to support it.
We offer a variety of bone grafting treatments to better tailor our practice to the individualized needs of our patients:
- Major Bone Grafting. For this procedure, bone is obtained either from a tissue bank or your jaw, hip, skull, or tibia. This type of treatment is performed to repair jaw defects, which could be a result of traumatic injuries, tumor surgery, or congenital defects. Major bone grafts can repair large bone defects and are performed in an operating room, requiring a hospital stay.
- Socket Preservation. After a tooth is extracted, the empty socket is filled with bone grafting material to preserve the bone site for a future implant.
- Sinus Lift. The sinuses above the upper jaw bone are filled with air. If the upper jaw bone has receded, the sinus membrane will be lifted, and the space underneath it will be filled with grafting material. This bulks and stabilizes the area for future upper implants.
- Ridge Augmentation. Similar to socket preservation, ridge augmentation fills the site of an extracted tooth. However, in these instances, bone loss has already occurred because the extraction was done a long time ago and the empty gap needs to be resized.
- Nerve Repositioning. The inferior alveolar nerve gives feeling to the bottom lip and chin. Sometimes, this nerve must be relocated prior to a jaw implant. When the nerve is moved, the pockets left behind are filled with bone grafting material to help prepare for a future dental implant.
Types of Anesthesia
Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants offers in-office anesthesia to maximize your comfort. Here are some of our anesthesia and sedation options:
Patient Testimonials
Hear from our patients about their experiences with Bone Grafting and other procedures.
"Hi, my name is Jill and I'm from Glenfield. I came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants to receive a sinus lift and a dental implant. Everyone here makes you feel calm. They have smiles every day. Dr. Curtis is amazing. He is very caring, very thorough, as far as questions. Dr. Curtis will make you feel comfortable and special. My procedures were very successful. The recovery was very simple. I am very happy that I chose Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants. They go the extra mile and it truly shows."
"Hi, my name is Kristy. I’m from Alexandria Bay. I came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants in order to get [an] extraction, bone graft, and implants. When I first came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants, the greeting was warm, welcoming. Everyone here immediately made me feel at ease. Dr. Curtis has met every expectation that I have had. He answered every single question. I’m very grateful for the excellent care that I have received here at Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants and I highly recommend Dr. Curtis and all of his team. "
"My name is Alexa, I am from Plessis, New York. I came to Upstate Oral Surgery to have my wisdom teeth out. The environment was very warm and welcoming. Dr. Curtis is very nice. The team here at Upstate Oral Surgery is amazing. They all work together, they all get along. The procedure went very well. I did not have any discomfort. Now that I’ve had the procedure, all the pain I was experiencing is gone. My overall experience at Upstate Oral Surgery was fantastic. Out of one to five stars, I would give Dr. Curtis five stars."
"Hi, my name is Alora and I’m from Theresa. I came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants to get orthognathic surgery. When I first came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants, it was very welcoming and bright in here. Everybody was so friendly and whenever you had a question, they would always be right there to answer it and they were super supportive with any decision you made. Dr. Curtis is very funny and always makes you feel comfortable and always double-checks to make sure everything is okay. Having this procedure was a truly life-changing experience for me, and I’m very grateful. To my friends in Adams Village and Adams Center, I highly recommend Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants. They gave me an amazing smile and Dr. Curtis is the best."
"Hi, my name is Amber and I’m from Le Fargeville and I came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants Center to get a full upper arch surgery. When you walk into the center, the staff is amazing. They’re always smiling. You know you’re in good hands. Everything will be taken care of. Dr. Curtis is a very kind and very welcoming person. Any questions, he’s thorough with it and explains the procedures to you. My procedure was a complete success. After having this procedure, it’s nice to smile now, to go out in public, and feel confident about who I am. I highly recommend Dr. Curtis and his staff. They changed my life and they can change yours too."
"My name is Ann Marie and I am from Watertown and I took my children to Upstate Oral Surgery to get their teeth extracted. My overall experience was wonderful. The staff is great, the doctor is very nice, and it was a really good experience. Dr. Curtis is wonderful. He’s very happy. He’s very charismatic. You can tell that he loves his job, and I was very comfortable putting the needs of my children in his hands. The staff is wonderful. You can tell that they have a good vibe with each other. They work really well with each other. I would absolutely recommend Upstate Oral Surgery. If you were a mom looking for a place to bring your kids, this is it. It’s wonderful."
"Hello, my name is Brenda and I'm from Antwerp, and I came to Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants for an extraction and implants. I had a great experience. Everybody made me feel very calm and they were very accommodating. Dr. Curtis put my mind at ease and made me feel very comfortable. The staff here are very friendly and they make you feel very relaxed. The procedure went great, and I left here with a great smile. Out of five stars, I would give this practice five stars. "
"Hi, I'm Brett and I'm from Watertown. I came to Upstate Oral Surgery and Dental Implants for a dental implant. When I first walked into the practice, I felt very comfortable. The overall experience was great. The staff were very friendly. Dr. Curtis knew what he was doing, and he did a great job. I'm very happy with the results.The implant has greatly improved the quality of my life. I feel more confident, um, especially in smiling and talking with other people. I would definitely recommend Dr. Curtis and Upstate Oral Surgery and Dental Implants."
"My name’s Christina, I’m from Copenhagen, New York, and I came to Upstate Oral Surgery to get my wisdom teeth extracted. When I first walked in, the environment was very professional and very welcoming. The staff did help me calm my nerves. They just kind of guided me along the way. Dr. Curtis’ chairside manner is very professional and very friendly. He’s a very personal person, and he makes you feel very comfortable. The procedure did go faster than I had expected. I feel very relieved now that I’ve had the procedure done. I don’t have to worry about my wisdom teeth anymore. My overall experience here at Upstate Oral Surgery was phenomenal. I would highly recommend Dr. Curtis to everybody."
Learn More About Us
We would like you to explore our website and learn more about our practice, the services we offer, and the expert-level treatment that you can expect from Dr. Curtis. We are honored to care for the people in our area and provide them with the health, smile, and confidence they need to live happy and healthy lives. Your team at Upstate Oral Surgery & Dental Implants looks forward to meeting with you and learning about how we can take the steps together towards fulfilling your oral surgery needs.