This news article discusses a potential new bone regeneration product being developed and how it might benefit patients who have suffered bone loss in the jaw.

There’s a new technology on the horizon and it offers dental implant surgeons in Long Beach and across the United States the ability to treat bone loss in patients without the need for invasive bone grafting surgery. Researchers at the University of Iowa are currently working on a bone regeneration patch that contains the compounds necessary to stimulate bone growth in areas of the jaw that have become atrophied as a result of tooth loss.

Let’s take a closer look at why this might constitute such a major breakthrough if this patch makes its way into the Long Beach market and how it might benefit patients who have suffered from advanced bone loss.

Traditional Challenges Facing Dental Implant Patients

Traditionally, one of the biggest problems facing patients who need dental implants, but who have been living without natural teeth for many years or even decades is the loss of bone volume from the jaw. This is caused by atrophication of the hard tissue due to a lack of stimulation by the natural tooth roots, which, of course, are no longer there.

“The loss of bone volume in the jaw not only causes one’s natural facial contours to change and age prematurely, but it also makes it difficult for the patient to receive new teeth,” explains one cosmetic dentist in Long Beach. “Just like natural teeth, dental implants require adequate bone volume in order to remain stable and supported.”

“The traditional solution to bone loss in patients who wanted new teeth implants was to undergo bone grafting surgery, which was a lengthy, invasive and expensive procedure that involved the grafting of externally harvested bone tissue onto the jawbone in order to augment it. This surgery is an additional step in a patient’s journey to getting new teeth again, and yet it would take several months of healing before they could even begin the process to getting dental implants in Long Beach.”

So it would seem that this is where the bone regeneration patch could change the standard industry approach to overcoming bone loss.

How Does the Bone Regeneration Patch Work?

The bio patch being developed at the University of Iowa contains a cocktail of ingredients that, once placed onto the bone that has become deteriorated, stimulate the production of new and healthy bone cells. Included in this cocktail are synthetic plasmids, which are genetic structures within the body’s cells that are able to replicate on their own. The plasmids used in the bio batch contain the genetic instructions to produce bone tissue.

While the researchers have managed to get some very promising results from the bio patch – having regrown damaged bones in animals and humans – they haven’t been able to crack certain conundrums, such as how to encourage the bone’s natural production of proteins that induce further bone growth. They are, however, excited by the results they are getting and see a definite product in the making in the next few years.

The Benefit for Long Beach Dental Implant Patients

One of the potential applications of the bio patch would be for patients who need new non-removable teeth, but whose jawbones have become too atrophied to support them. The exact benefits of this treatment versus traditional approaches can only be speculated upon at the moment, but it looks as though the bio patch could offer Long Beach residents a less invasive and less expensive road to recovery!