The cost of dental bone grafts varies and is based in large part on the overall complexity of the procedure. When the grafting material is harvested from the patient’s own bone, there are actually two surgeries required – the bone harvest and the graft placement – and the patient must be hospitalized, with a surgeon and an anesthesiologist on their dental team. This results in a total cost that ranges between $2500 and $3500. On the other hand, a simple bone graft that uses synthetic bone and local anesthetic can cost as little as $300 to $700 for a single tooth area. Even simple dental bone grafts can incur extra costs, and auxiliary procedures like X-rays or other full-mouth imaging will increase the overall cost of the treatment by as much as $1000. While dental insurance policies rarely cover dental implants, they may cover the cost of medically necessary bone grafts, and you should definitely check with your dental insurance provider as you plan your treatment.
There are a few different styles of dental bone graft treatment, though all are designed to encourage and support the replenishment of bone tissue in the jaw. Some bone grafts are placed in the same procedure when a tooth is extracted; these socket grafts help hold the bone in place for a period while you prepare for dental implants. Other grafts are used to support a restoration in the sinus. This procedure, called a sinus lift, is often needed when the upper molars are missing and the sinus has begun to relocate into the gap in the upper jaw; when the gap is sealed with a bone graft, the sinus is once again stabilized in the proper position. The graft material used for dental bone grafts can come from one of four sources. These graft types and their sources are:
- Autografts: the patient’s own bone
- Allografts: donated human bone
- Xenographs: donated animal bone
- Alloplasts: synthetic material
While the autograft procedure is the most complex and most expensive of all dental bone grafts, requiring two separate surgical procedures to harvest and then implant the bone graft material, it is also a very popular choice. Because the tissue comes from the patient’s own body, autograft material fuses with the existing jawbone easily and poses very little, if any, risk of rejection, making it the safest and most effective type of graft. Bone is extracted from the patient’s rear jaw, their chin, their hipbone, or their knee. After it is harvested, the bone is shaped so that it will fit properly in the target area; then, it is placed in the jaw through a small incision in the gums, before the gum tissue is sutured back into place.
While allografts, xenographs, and alloplasts don’t need to be harvested from the patient, the procedure for placing any of these grafts is the same. Allografts are derived from preserved human donor cadavers, the freeze-dried, sterilized bone sourced from a medical tissue bank. Xenograft bone is sourced from an animal, usually a cow, but is sterilized and preserved much like allograft bone, ensuring optimal safety levels. Both allografts and xenografts are considered safe, affordable options for simple dental bone grafts. Alloplastic grafts, made of synthetic bone, are effective for patients who either can’t or would prefer not to have grafts that come from mammalian tissue. You and your dentist will review the specific benefits, drawbacks, and costs of each of these materials as you plan your dental bone grafting treatment.