After removal of a tooth, many times the amount of remaining bone shrinks rapidly at first, followed by a more slowly progressing shrinking that occurs over years afterwards. This shrinking is a natural process, but it is an undesirable result of tooth removal. Maximizing the amount of bony ridge left after extraction is highly desirable.
To minimize the rapid shrinking of bone, a bone graft can be placed in the socket at the time of tooth removal. This type of bone graft is straightforward and produces little or no discomfort. A ridge preservation bone graft can often prevent the need for major bone grafting later on. Therefore, a ridge preservation bone graft helps to minimize the need for treatment with major bone grafting in the future.
The slowly progressive shrinking that happens over time is really only prevented by replacing the missing tooth with a dental implant. The pace of this “slow” bone loss is difficult to predict and is influenced by the genetics of the patient.