What is socket preservation?

Socket preservation is a procedure that helps to keep all the bone around a tooth that is being removed. When a tooth is extracted, the bone around the tooth immediately begins to resorb. This resorption causes the jawbone to get narrower and shrink away from where the biting surface of the tooth was. This shrinkage often results in the healed jawbone being too small to accommodate even a very small implant. This can mean that a dental implant can not be used to replace the tooth that was removed or that additional bone building procedures are will be necessary. It is always a good idea to let an implant surgeon evaluate a tooth that needs to be removed before it is removed. They can determine if a socket preservation would help preserve your bone so more involved and costly procedures are not necessary later. The procedure does not guarantee that bone building procedures will not be necessary, especially if the tooth was badly infected or caused a lot of damage to the bone, but it does significantly reduce the chance.

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