This entry courtesy of Dr. Rocco Mele, DVM of Eastpoint Pet Clinic in Tucson, Arizona
Dental trauma? Bone graft can help!
This is the end result of a deep underbite and haphazard chewing (bones, rocks, tennis balls, sticks, etc.) by a canine patient. The underbite, left untreated, resulted in trauma caused by the malalignment of the maxillary and mandibular incisors. This condition is highly problematic and the patient continually tries to alleviate the pain by further chewing, causing more trauma to the teeth and surrounding tissues – it becomes a vicious cycle. The treatment goal is to provide comfort, and by maintaining aveolar bone stock through the use of bone graft, the canine teeth can be preserved.
The patient’s maxillary incisors are completely worn down and the surrounding tissue is severely inflamed. The mandibular incisors are also almost completely worn down and pulp is exposed.
The treatment in this case was, first, to extract the teeth. This was extremely challenging, as most of the teeth were worn, impacted, and not easily manipulated with surgical instruments.
All incisors have been extracted completely. The bone loss in both the mandible and maxilla is clearly visible with the damaged teeth removed.
Following extraction, xenograft (VTS’ Equine Orthomix) was mixed with Lidocaine and Epinephrine and packed into the site. The aveolar ridge was evenly flattened and the bone graft packed on top to augment the site.
Equine Orthomix is packed into the mandibular extraction site. VTS graft products can be infused with a variety of pharmaceuticals, including antibiotics. In this case, Lidocaine and Epinephrine were used.
When closed, convexity of the apposed flap can be seen.
Full, tension-free surgical closure of both the maxilla (L) and mandible (R) are achieved. Bone graft can create convexity without increasing tension on the surrounding tissues.
Radiographically, the bone loss surrounding the incisors is visible on the pre-operative films. On the films taken immediately post-operatively, the particulate graft can be seen providing a structure on which ridge height can begin to be maintained. Bone grafts can augment areas of bone loss, providing structure where, previously, any sort of scaffold was absent.
Radiographic images of the maxilla.
Radiographic images of the mandible.
You can help patients like this one live a comfortable, pain-free lifestyle by using grafts from Veterinary Transplant Services – every extraction, every time.