Horizontal Bone Augmentation in Lakewood, WA

For many people in Lakewood and Tacoma, the desire for a dental implant is met with a common hurdle: a jawbone that is simply too narrow. When a tooth has been missing for a long time, the bone doesn’t just shrink in height, it often “thins out” horizontally. At the office of Dr. Kevin Kim, DDS, we specialize in Horizontal Bone Augmentation (also known as Lateral Ridge Augmentation). This specialized procedure focuses on widening the alveolar ridge, creating a thick, sturdy platform that can fully house a dental implant and ensure it stays secure for a lifetime.

The need for horizontal augmentation often becomes clear during your initial Dental Implant Consultation. If the bone is too thin, placing an implant would be like trying to drive a wide screw into a narrow piece of wood, the sides would be exposed, leading to infection or failure. As a Dental Implant Periodontist, Dr. Kevin Kim uses CBCT 3D Imaging to measure your bone width down to the millimeter. If your ridge is insufficient, he uses advanced grafting techniques to “bulk up” the area. By adding this necessary width, we ensure that the titanium implant is completely surrounded by healthy bone, which is the key to long-term success.

How We Rebuild Your Ridge Width

At Dental Health Associates, Dr. Kim utilizes several high-tech methods to achieve horizontal growth:

• Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR): We place bone grafting material against the side of the narrow ridge and cover it with a protective “barrier membrane.” This membrane prevents fast-growing gum tissue from moving into the space, allowing the slower-growing bone cells to fill the area.
• Ridge Splitting/Expansion: In certain cases, Dr. Kim can gently “expand” the existing bone to create a channel for the implant and grafting material, widening the ridge instantly.
• Block Grafting: For more significant thinning, a small block of bone can be secured to the side of the jaw to provide a substantial increase in width.
• PRF (Platelet-Rich Fibrin): We often use your body’s own growth factors to speed up the fusion of the new bone to your existing jaw.

The goal of Horizontal Bone Augmentation isn’t just functional, it’s also aesthetic. A narrow ridge can cause the gums to look “sunken” or make the final dental crown look unnaturally small or misplaced. By restoring the natural contours of your jaw, Dr. Kim ensures that your final restoration looks exactly like a natural tooth emerging from healthy, full gums. This attention to detail is why patients from University Place, Steilacoom, and Clover Park trust us with their smile transformations.

We believe that a well-informed patient is a more relaxed patient. To learn more about the predictable success of horizontal grafting, you can explore resources from the American Academy of Periodontology or read about ridge reconstruction at the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Kevin Kim, DDS is here to provide the surgical expertise needed to turn a “narrow” possibility into a solid reality for your smile.