Do You Need a Bone Graft?
How we tell from a scan whether you need extra bone, what the different grafts involve, the routes that avoid grafting altogether, and what each costs.
Will I Need a Bone Graft for a Dental Implant in Hamilton?
Often you won't. Whether you need one depends on the width and height of bone where the tooth used to be, and a CT scan at your free consultation in Hamilton shows that precisely. If a graft is needed, a small one is £535 and usually goes in during the implant appointment; a larger rebuild is £998 and may need a few months to settle before the implant is placed.
Finding Out From Your Scan
The question can't really be answered from a flat X-ray. That shows how tall the bone is, but not how thick, and a ridge can look fine head-on while being knife-thin from cheek to tongue. Our CBCT scanner, here in the practice, takes a three-dimensional picture in a few seconds (£160).
On that scan, Dr Sharma measures the bone where the implant would go and marks the nerve in the lower jaw and the sinus floor in the upper. Then he tries a virtual implant in place. One of three answers comes out of it: the implant fits the bone you have; it fits, but a small top-up alongside would strengthen it; or the ridge needs rebuilding first.
Why the Bone Was Lost
Jawbone stays thick because chewing forces pass through the tooth roots into it. Take a tooth away and that stimulus goes, so the body slowly reabsorbs the ridge. Most of the loss happens in the first months, mainly in width, and it carries on at a slower rate for years.
Other things speed it up: gum disease that has already eaten into the bone, an infection or cyst at the root, a difficult extraction, and a denture rubbing on the gum. That's why someone who lost a tooth last spring and someone who has worn a partial denture since the 1990s can need very different treatment.
Told There's Not Enough Bone?
Book a free consultation in Hamilton. A scan on our own machine will show what you have, and we'll explain every route open to you.
The Kinds of Graft We Use
| Type | When it's used | Timing | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small graft | A thin patch or a dip beside the implant | Same visit as the implant | £535 |
| Large graft | A ridge too narrow or too short to hold an implant | Usually first, with the implant a few months later | £998 |
| Sinus lift | Upper back teeth, where the sinus sits low | Same visit or staged, depending on the scan | Confirmed in your written plan |
Most grafts use a sterile bone substitute, a mineral framework that your own bone gradually grows through and replaces, held in place under a thin membrane. Because nothing is taken from elsewhere in your body, there's only one area to heal.
Ways to Avoid Grafting
- Placing the implant soon after the extraction, before the ridge has had time to shrink, where the socket is clean and sound.
- Choosing a shorter or slimmer implant that fits the bone that's there. MegaGen AnyRidge implants are designed to grip well even in softer bone.
- Tilting the implant so it reaches firm bone in front of the sinus or above the nerve. Full-arch treatment uses angled back implants for this reason, and so rarely needs a graft.
- A different replacement altogether, such as a bridge, where a graft would make an implant hard to justify.
We'll tell you plainly if one of these makes more sense than a graft, and why.
Healing After a Graft
The graft is done under local anaesthetic, often during the same appointment as the implant, and IV sedation is available if you'd prefer (£500). Afterwards, expect the area to be swollen and tender for two or three days. Ordinary painkillers usually handle it. Keep to soft food for about a week, chew on the other side, and keep your tongue and fingers away from the stitches.
Smoking is the biggest avoidable threat to a graft, because it cuts the blood supply the new bone depends on. Uncontrolled diabetes and active gum disease also slow healing, so we deal with those first. A review visit checks the area is knitting as it should.
How the Fee Is Shown
Any graft appears as its own line in your written plan, next to the implant and crown, so you can see exactly what it adds. A single implant with crown is from £2,605 before grafting; a small graft brings the total to £3,140, plus the CT scan. Full-arch plans are designed to avoid grafting where possible. Our implant cost guide lists every fee, and our CT scan guide explains what the scan shows.
Questions
This guide is general information, not a diagnosis. A dentist needs to examine you to say what is right for your teeth.