Hi, I am 34 years old and am getting full dentures in about 3 weeks. My dentist is recomending that I get bone graphs. I guess it takes about 60 seconds each and they fill each extraction hole with synthetic bone fill. Has anyone heard of this before? It sounds like a good idea but at a cost of $1100 which insurance wont pay I'm not sure if it is really neseccary. Please let me know if you have any knowledge on this...Thanks
Did you ask why they are suggesting bone grafts? Maybe you dont have enough bone to support dentures. Get another opinion from another dentist or oral surgeon and make sure you ask them why bone grafts are necessary. If a dentist or oral surgeon suggests a procedure always ask WHY it is necessary.
I just recently got dentures, but i did not have a bone graft. The bone in your jaw shrinks once you get dentures, it seems weird that you would need this before the dentures. I know that before i got dentures, my jaw bone was more shrunken than many people's because i had many missing teeth, which made it shrink. But i didnt have to get the grafts...Maybe there needs to be more bone so that there is a bigger ridge (i think that is what that is called), because the top dentures stay on due to suction around the gum, and if the ridge is too small, they wont suction. I agree, you should ask why this is necesary. Your jawbone will shrink with the dentures..maybe they are concerned it will shrink too much. In my case, they said i would need a bone graft if i were to get teeth implants later on, but not for dentures. i hope everything goes well!
lala - how are you doing with your dentures?? how is your speech?
to answer question regarding grafts in sockets - i read about this and this is to keep your existing bone from absorbing/shrinking.
it kind of anchors whatever bone you do have, and will keep from more shrinkage from occurring. if you look up bone grafts on computer alot of infor will come up..but did see this on one of the websites about the drops in the sockets.
i have my first appt for consultation tomorrow and will ask regarding this. i am 46 and remember lala you are very young and us "old" people may need this.
let us know how you are doing with your new teeth..
thanks for any info you can share...i too am scared out of my mind.
i am playing lottery hopeing to win to pay for all this. with dentures/oral surgery/possible bone grafts i am probably looking at around 10,000.
I am 36 and I too just got dentures, on May 3rd, upper only so far. I am unaware of what the bone graph is all about, as it wasn't brought up to me by my dentist.
Are you getting immediate dentures? I did and they make they ajustments on mine by redoing the liner as needed. I woould get definate answers before going through with it and also a second opinion if possible to make sure this is not a scam of some sort.
Thanks everybody for your input. Yes, am getting immediate dentures and the dentist said that the graphs need to be done at the same time as the extractions (pull a tooth, fill the hole with graph, stitch it closed). He said that it will help with shrinking and bone loss which will make the dentures fit better longer and that I won't lose facial structure years later. Read alittle on the net about it and it sounds pretty new. Scared but can't wait until this is over with, by the time I finally conquered my fear enough to go see a dentist I had multiple abscesses and infections - been on antibotics for 4 days and not feeling much better. Extractions not for at least 2 or 3 more weeks and can't afford to miss any more work. Oh well my fault I guess.
Let me know if any of you find anything more out.
Dentures and Bone Graft 
