Surgical Procedures
Soft Tissue Ridge Augmentation
When teeth are extracted without extraction site preservation, the bone often shrinks during healing and leaves a depression in the gum. When a permanent, non-removable bridge is placed, this concavity prevents the artificial tooth from looking real -- it's too long and out of proportion. In other words, it looks "fake". By repairing the jaw defect with soft tissue ridge augmentation, the artificial tooth now looks like it is growing out of the gum and cannot be distinguished from the natural teeth.
Utilizing a combination of gingival grafts and connective tissue grafts, the defective area is built up to match the surrounding tissue levels. Depending on the size of the defective area and the thickness of the available donor tissue, several procedures may be necessary to obtain the optimum result.
The best way to treat a ridge deficiency is to prevent it from occurring. Performing extraction site preservation at the time of extraction can minimize the amount of bone loss from an extraction.