The Risk of “Socket Grafting”

On today’s Toxic Tuesday post, learn how “socket grafting” using synthetic materials frequently leads to infection. At Blodgett Dental Care, we’ve found that L-PRF, a grafting technique which uses your body’s own immune cells and clotting factors, is far safer and more effective. 

One Patient’s Story

Last week I had the pleasure of helping a woman who was ready to have a zirconia implant placed in her upper left jaw replacing her first molar. When the tooth was removed, she had the extraction site filled with synthetic grafting material. The idea with these “bone-like” grafting materials is that they will fill up space and help your jawbone heal.  Unfortunately, this approach often fails, as it did in this case. These grafting materials have no vital energy to them. Oftentimes your body will recognize the graft as a foreign body and try to encapsulate it.  When this happens, no vital bone will develop and it will most frequently become an area of trapped infection and foreign material.

The image below shows a “porthole ” which drained a puss-like fluid when the soft tissues are pressed.  In the second image, you can see that something doesn’t look natural.  As you continue scanning through the images, the verbiage explains what is happening. After 20+ years of removing teeth and helping bone to heal, what I have found to be the most effective technique to grafting is using “L-PRF”.  L-PRF is a concentration of your body’s own immune cells (Leukocytes) and clotting factors (Platelet-rich Fibrin). We started offering L-PRF in our practice 2 years ago.

During that time we have not seen a single graft fail. This makes sense, doesn’t it?  L-PRF is a LIVING TISSUE! It comes from your own body (your blood). There is zero chance of rejection. If you are having any tooth removed and want to heal as well as possible, make sure to find a dentist who offers L-PRF as your grafting source. Your body will thank you!

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Learn more about L-PRF here.

Let’s get in touch! Contact us at Info@bdcpdx.com