Socket preservation

After an extraction, the bone that held the tooth remodels. The ridge can become narrower and shorter. A socket graft fills that space with material that supports new bone while the gum closes.

It is a smaller procedure than rebuilding a ridge that has already collapsed. If the site is already flat, the conversation moves to other bone grafting, not a socket graft alone.

Not every extraction needs a graft. Dr. Curtis recommends one when a future implant is likely and the socket would otherwise lose the shape that implant needs.

• A tooth is coming out and an implant is the likely replacement
• The walls of the socket are thin, especially on the cheek side of a front tooth
• You want the site preserved while you finish other dental work first

A badly infected socket, or a tooth that needs to come out in pieces, can change what is placed the same day. That is decided at surgery, not promised ahead of time.

The tooth is removed, the socket is cleaned, and graft material is placed. A membrane or stitches may cover it. The visit is often the same length as the extraction itself, with sedation if that was planned for the extraction.

You leave with gauze and the graft instruction sheet. Small particles can feel like sand in the mouth. That is described on the sheet and is not, by itself, a failed graft.

The first days

• Day of surgery: bite on gauze until bleeding slows. Do not rinse, use a straw, or chew on that side.
• Days 1–3: soreness is similar to an extraction. Swelling, if any, is usually modest unless the gum was released to cover the graft.
• First week: do not eat on the grafted side. Brush the other teeth. Start the prescribed rinse the day after surgery, gently.

The next weeks and months

The gum usually closes over the first few weeks. Stitches on a graft often dissolve in about two weeks. The bone inside the socket is still changing for several months. An implant is planned after Dr. Curtis checks the site, not on a fixed day chosen at the extraction.

Call us if

• Bleeding does not slow with firm pressure on gauze
• Pain is getting worse after day three
• The site looks widely open, or graft material keeps pouring out
• You have a fever, a bad taste that is new, or swelling that is increasing

Read extraction with bone graft aftercare. Download the PDF.

Socket preservation is billed with the extraction, not as a full ridge rebuild. The estimate changes if a membrane is used, if sedation is added, or if the plan later includes an implant and a crown from your dentist.

What changes the fee is the work itself: whether grafting is needed, which anesthesia is used, the type of restoration your dentist will make, and whether new imaging is required. Dr. Curtis gives an estimate at the consultation, after the exam. This website does not list prices.

The office takes most PPO dental plans. The current in-network list is on patient info. Call (561) 833-6880 if you want to ask about a plan before you come in.