Rebuild lost jawbone so you can move forward with a dental implant, a stable denture, or a healthy bite. Bone grafting at Village Dental — North Raleigh is done in-office, often the same visit as the extraction, with sedation available.
A dental bone graft adds new bone material to a thin or empty section of your jaw so what's underneath can hold a tooth, a tooth root, or an implant. The procedure happens in our office under local anesthesia — and if it's the kind of thing that makes you want to be somewhere else mentally, we offer sedation. Most grafts take 30 to 90 minutes depending on size and complexity, and you walk out the same day.
In North Raleigh, the patients who come to us for grafting tend to fall into a handful of patterns. Someone in North Hills had a tooth pulled five years ago and now wants to replace it with an implant — but the bone has shrunk in the meantime. A patient near Lafayette Village lost a back tooth to a deep cavity and we're placing the graft the same day as the extraction so the socket doesn't collapse. Or someone in Wakefield is being fitted for a full denture and the lower ridge has become too thin to hold it stable. Bone grafting is the foundation that makes those next steps possible — most often paired with dental implants or planned alongside a tooth extraction.
There are a few different reasons we might recommend a graft. The most common is socket preservation — placing graft material in an empty socket the moment the tooth comes out, so the bone doesn't shrink during the months before an implant goes in. The second is ridge augmentation, which builds back jaw width or height that's already been lost. The third is a closely related procedure in the upper back jaw called sinus augmentation, where the sinus floor sometimes drops too low for implants to be placed safely.
Most grafts are 30 to 90 minutes in-office under local anesthesia, with sedation available if you'd rather not be present.
We start with a cone-beam CT scan — a 3D X-ray that shows the exact width, height, and density of bone where we're working, plus the location of nerves and sinuses. From there we plan the graft size and the right material before you ever sit in the chair.
Once the area is fully numb, we place graft material into the socket or onto the deficient ridge, cover it with a thin collagen membrane to protect it, and suture the gum closed. If you've chosen sedation, this is the part you won't remember much of.
Soft diet for the first week and an antibiotic if needed. We see you back at one and three months to check healing, then re-scan around month four to six. Once the graft has matured into your own bone, the implant or restoration can go in.
The graft material we use is a sterile particulate from a regulated tissue bank — processed and screened so it acts as a scaffold for your body to grow new bone into. Over three to six months, your own osteoblasts (bone-building cells) migrate in, replace the scaffold, and turn the graft site into living, integrated jawbone. We can also combine the graft with platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) drawn from a small blood sample of your own at the start of the visit, which adds growth factors and tends to speed up healing.
Before any graft, we use 3D cone-beam imaging — a much more detailed scan than the flat X-rays you might be used to — to map the exact shape of your jawbone, locate nerves and sinuses, and design the graft to the millimeter. We'll show you the scan on a screen, walk you through what's missing and what's possible, and talk through whether the graft is best paired with a same-day tooth extraction, planned ahead of an implant, or part of a larger reconstruction.
A few practical things for North Raleigh patients. We quote the price up front, in writing, so there are no surprises at checkout. We're a judgment-free office — if it's been years since you last sat in a dental chair and the bone loss is more than you expected, that's okay; we plan around what's actually there. Sedation is available for anyone who'd rather not be present for surgery — see our sedation dentistry page. And we keep same-day windows open daily, which matters when an extraction needs grafting on the spot.
The cost of a bone graft depends on the size of the graft, the material used, and whether it's a simple socket preservation done at the time of an extraction or a larger ridge augmentation that takes additional planning. A small socket graft is at the lower end; a multi-tooth ridge build-up or a graft combined with sinus augmentation is at the higher end. We give you a written estimate before any work begins, including what your insurance is likely to cover. Village Dental — North Raleigh is in-network with the major dental insurance providers below.
Please note: We do not accept Medicaid. If you're uninsured, ask about the Village Dental Membership Plan — it bundles your preventive visits and gives you a discount on additional treatment, including bone grafting and implant work.
New patients: Your first exam and X-rays are free. If you've been putting off replacing a missing tooth because you weren't sure where to start, that's an easy place to begin.
Right on Six Forks Rd in North Raleigh — minutes from North Hills and Lafayette Village, and easy to reach from Wakefield, Stonehenge, Bedford, and Brier Creek. Same-day grafting visits are often available when an extraction can't wait.
Cost depends on the size and type of graft. A small socket preservation graft placed at the time of a tooth extraction is the most affordable option; a larger ridge augmentation or a graft that uses platelet-rich fibrin from your own blood costs more. We give you a written estimate before any work starts. Insurance often covers part of the cost when grafting is medically necessary to support a future implant or denture. We're in-network with Delta Dental Premier, Cigna PPO, BCBS Grid, and United Concordia Elite. Call (919) 364-9178 for an estimate.
Yes, in most cases — and it's usually the smarter approach. Placing graft material in the empty socket immediately after the tooth comes out is called socket preservation, and it prevents the bone from shrinking during the months before a dental implant goes in. Village Dental — North Raleigh, at 7371 Six Forks Rd, schedules same-day windows for combined extraction-and-graft visits. Call (919) 364-9178 as soon as you know an extraction is coming so we can plan the graft at the same time.
Most bone grafts take between 30 and 90 minutes in the chair, depending on the size of the graft and whether other procedures — like an extraction or sinus lift — are happening at the same visit. A simple socket preservation graft is on the shorter end; a larger ridge augmentation involving multiple sites takes longer. You'll be able to drive yourself home unless you've chosen IV sedation. Call (919) 364-9178 to discuss what your visit will look like.
The procedure itself is comfortable — the area is fully numbed with local anesthesia before any work begins. Most patients describe the recovery as similar to having a tooth pulled: some swelling and tenderness for two to three days, controlled with over-the-counter pain medication or a short prescription. Sedation is available if you'd rather not be fully present for the procedure. Call (919) 364-9178 to ask about which option is right for you.
Often, partially. Insurance is most likely to cover bone grafting when it's medically necessary — for example, socket preservation after an extraction, or a graft that's part of a larger implant treatment plan. Cosmetic-only grafts are less commonly covered. We're in-network with Delta Dental Premier, Cigna PPO, Blue Cross Blue Shield Grid, and United Concordia Elite, and we verify benefits before treatment so you know your out-of-pocket cost up front. We do not accept Medicaid. Call (919) 364-9178 with your insurance card handy.
Socket preservation is the smallest type of graft — graft material is placed into the empty socket the moment a tooth is extracted, to keep the bone from shrinking. Ridge augmentation is a larger procedure that rebuilds bone width or height that's already been lost over time, usually before a future implant. Sinus augmentation is a related procedure in the upper back jaw. We always recommend the smallest version of the procedure that gets the job done. Call (919) 364-9178 for an evaluation.
Most grafts take three to six months to fully integrate into your existing jawbone. The first week is the most restrictive — soft diet, no straws, careful around the surgical site. By two to three weeks the gum is healed externally, but the bone underneath is still maturing. We schedule a follow-up scan around month four to month six to confirm the graft is ready before placing an implant. Call (919) 364-9178 if you have questions about your healing timeline.
Sometimes, not always. If your tooth was extracted recently and the bone is still healthy, an implant may go directly into the socket without grafting. If the tooth has been gone for years, or there's been infection or periodontal disease, the bone has likely shrunk and a graft is needed first to give the implant something solid to anchor into. A 3D cone-beam scan tells us definitively in about ten minutes. Call (919) 364-9178 to schedule a consultation.
Village Dental — North Raleigh is right on Six Forks Rd at 7371 Six Forks Rd — minutes from North Hills, Lafayette Village, Wakefield, and Stonehenge. We handle the full range of grafting in-office, from same-day socket preservation to larger ridge augmentation, with sedation available. Same-day appointment windows are reserved daily for urgent extractions that need grafting on the spot. Call (919) 364-9178 or schedule online.
Most grafts use processed bone from a regulated tissue bank — sterilized, screened, and approved for medical and dental use. Some use bovine (cow) or synthetic material, depending on the case. We can also combine these with platelet-rich fibrin made from a small sample of your own blood, which adds your own growth factors to the graft. All of these materials have been used routinely in dentistry for decades and have a strong safety record. Call (919) 364-9178 to ask about which material would be used in your case.