Does the Bone Grafting for Dental Implants hurt?

Post Op discomfort from oral bone grafts varies by the type of bone grafting done.  It also varies from patient to patient.  If the graft is a socket preservation graft for a future implant there is very little discomfort.  If bone is harvested from you from anohter site in your mouth there may be a little more discomfort, but usually no more than the discomfort of having a tooth extracted. My patients very rarely complain of any post op pain from bone grafts beyong minor throbbing for a day or so. Post op pain medicine and sometimes anti-inflammatory medications are prescribed and does a very good job in keeping patients very comfortable

Dear 7678anon, It depends on the amount of
bone added, how much tissue (gum) manipulation is done, and how long it takes
to complete the procedure.

There are various bone grafting procedures that are performed in preparing the jawbone for an implant. There are particulate bone grafts (powder) whereby bone chips are placed into the socket where a tooth used to reside. The bone is allowed to heal for four months before the implant is placed. Another bone graft is called the "block" graft. This is a bit more extensive and involved actually screwing in a block of bone (donor graft) into the jaw bone using a couple of stainless steel screws which are removed four months later at time of implant placement. NONE of these procedures hurts. These surgeries are typically completed using local and sedation anesthesia. There is NO PAIN during the surgery and very little discomfort after especially considering that patients are prescribed pain medication and antibiotics. 

The discomfort associated with any dental procedure varies from person to person and the extent of tissue trauma.  Each person experiences pain differently and similarly swelling, bruising and bleeding after these procedures varies.  Bone grafting involves the augmentation of supportive bone structures.  Bone may be obtained from the host (patients own bone) or external (donated or synthetic). If host bone is used often the donor site shows higher levels of discomfort as compared to the grafted site.  Many of our patients report minimal amounts of discomfort after the procedures and medications are always prescribed that make recovery as comfortable as possible.   

Post operative pain from bone grafting is not necessarily more than any other oral surgery procedures such as a tooth extraction. Pain is well managed with post operative prescribed pain medications. Certainly, depending on the degree of bone grafting and type, there can be variations in recovery, but again, it is not correlate with increasing pain.

 

Dr. Kazemi