Hi mousch,
First of all, bone graft material will not integrate in an area of jaw bone that is infected. That is one reason why your grafts have failed. In a case such as yours, before a bone graft procedure can be done....... the tooth needs to be removed and the bone needs to be debrided, antibiotics are given and the surgical site is left alone for several weeks to months depending on the degree of infection. The surgical site is monitored with periodic xrays to determine when the infection is gone. Once that is determined, then the area is surgically exposed and a bone graft is placed.
Anytime a bone graft is placed in the jawbone before the infection is gone, the area will become overwhelmed with bacteria and the graft will fall out. Irrelevant of what is used to cover the surgical site, the graft will fail. It sounds like that may be what's happening to you.
Sorry I didn't get to post this earlier.... what did the dentist say at your appt on thursday?
Bryanna
Quote:
Originally Posted by mousch
Hi to everyone here. I've found the listed questions and responses in this forum very helpful in my experiences with bone grafts the past 4 months. I'm already very thankful to the previous posters who have helped calm my nerves.
In October I had tooth #19 (first molar on left side?) removed and a bone graft inserted in preparation for an implant. There was a massive chronic infection beneath it which had deteriorated much of the bone. A few weeks after the procedure, a large amount of the bone graft material was spit out while I was rinsing my mouth. The graft was considered a failure and I was referred to a periodontist.
Ten days ago the periodontist attempted another bone graft. The x-rays showed that a lot of the graft material had stayed in and grown, so the previous graft was partially successful.
He knew about my previous failed bone graft and so did a gum transplant to help close the site. It seemed to be going well, but a few days ago white material sort of stuck up from the site in a little sheet. I could see two of these 'sheets' but they seemed fairly stable, so I decided to just ignore them and do my thing. Today while rinsing my mouth both of these sheets of material came off. I did rescue one from the sink and took a photo of it, but this is my first post so I can't provide a link...
Both pieces of material were roughly the same size. I was not brushing the graft site with my toothbrush, and was following my aftercare instructions. I do not smoke.
I see my dentist on Thursday for a followup. I am just anxious that once again I will hear that the graft has failed and have to go for a third procedure.. meaning more pain, anxiety and money. This is all very frustrating, and I was already quite unhappy that I had to pay for one failed graft procedure.
Any idea what could have happened here? The first dentist didn't tell me that such a large graft was likely to fail until after it had already failed. It has been afrustrating process.
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