Bone grafting is a surgical procedure medical professionals use to remedy problems with bones or joints. It is a process of adding new bone around other bone in order to fill voids or cavities in the bone. Bone grafts include autogenous bones which are harvested from the patients own bones or artificial bone graft substitutes. 83% of patients received autogenous grafts, while 17% received artificial grafts. Read below to see some of the reasons a bone patient may need a bone graft.
Dental
The dental industry used bone grafting for a number of reasons. A bone graft delivery device may be used because of diseases related to the mouth or to help aid in dental implants. Missing or misaligned teeth are another popular reason that bone grafts are used in the dental field.
Fractures
Bone fractures are common especially among children who play sports. Their bones are still growing so they aren’t quite as hard as adults bones. Typical bone fractures heal as fast as two weeks, while others can take as long as 10 weeks to fully heal. Sometimes there are multiple fractures in a bone. Sometimes there is a compound fracture to the bone. Sometimes regular normal treatment does not properly treat the fractured area. These are times that a bone graft delivery system would be beneficial to the patient.
Disease
Some diseases can cause bones to deteriorate, meaning new bone is needed. Bone grafts are used to regenerate bone that is lost due to disease. Small amounts or bone can be used to fill in cavities within the bone or large sections of bones can fill larger cavities.
Joint Replacement
Joint replacements are used so that an old or injured joint can be used once again, but when it doesn’t heal properly complications can arise. This is where bone grafting can help. Bone grafting can be used to deposit new bone around the joint replacement site to encourage new bone growth so the joint works properly.
Since bone grafts are a surgical procedure your doctor will discuss with you the precautions and steps to take before and after the surgery. They will explain the procedure, the graft delivery device being used, and what to do to reduce complications.