How Can Your Dentist Keep Your Bone Healthy During A Dental Implant Surgery

If your dentist, someone like Richard L. Myers, DDS, has scheduled a dental implant surgery for you, then you may know that the operation will involve the jaw. Specifically, the dental implant root will need to be screwed down into the bone. If you are scared about the surgery, then you are not alone. When it comes to dental implants, you may be most scared about bone drilling and whether or not your jaw can handle the stress and pressure. Thankfully, your dentist will do a variety of things that will keep your bone in good shape during the operation.

Incremental Drilling

Dental implant roots come in a variety of widths based on the type of tooth that is being replaced. The width may be a bit less than four millimeters or a little over six millimeters. The width of the root will be considered and a drill fitting will be selected for the dental drill that is just a tad smaller than the diameter of the root. This allows the implant to twist down into the root in a secured manner, much like a screw would be added to a piece of wood.

You may know that a piece of wood can chip, crack, and break apart if a large drill bit is used to form a hole in the wood. This same sort of thing can happen with the jaw. In fact it is more likely due to the hardness of the bone. To prevent jaw damage, your dentist will use a variety of drill bits in incremental sizes to slowly form a hole that is big enough to fit the implant root. 

When the different sized drill bits are utilized, your dentist will also work through the bone slowly. This keeps the jaw from becoming damaged by the speed of the drill. In particular, the slow drilling stops the bone cells from dying along the implant area. Once the implant root is secured in the jaw, the healthy cells can start to multiply and grow around the implant root. 

Water And Air

Even if incremental drill bits are used, the drilling process will create some heat. This heat can damage the bone cells in the same way that speed and extensive pressure can. To reduce heat concerns, your dentist will use either water or saline against the drill to keep heat reduced. Air will sometimes be used as well. 

Water and saline are usually used continuously during the drilling process, and the fluids are sprayed against the bone as the drill bits are switched. As the implant operation continues, the fluids will also act as agents to flush the implant opening. This helps to keep debris out of the implant site so the root can be set without difficulties.