Victoria ridge augmentation, rebuilding a narrowed ridge
Bone loses width before it loses height. A gap left for years leaves a ridge that looks adequate from above but is too thin to surround a post. Ridge augmentation rebuilds that width so an implant sits in bone rather than against it.
Ridge augmentation answers a ridge that collapsed inward
Most of the bone that surrounded a tooth root was on the cheek side, and that is the wall that resorbs first. The result is a ridge with reasonable height but a knife edge profile, too narrow to hold a post with bone on both sides. From the outside it can look fine, which is why this is measured rather than judged by eye.
Ridge augmentation places graft against the narrow wall and protecting it while your bone grows through, the same mechanism described on Dental Bone Graft. Where height is the problem instead, and the site is an upper molar, Sinus Lift Surgery is the relevant procedure.
None of this would be needed if the socket had been grafted when the tooth came out, which is the argument for Socket Preservation.
Ridge case
How it works
Ridge augmentation, rebuilding width in four stages
Measure the width
A CBCT scan shows the ridge in cross section. Height alone tells you nothing here; width is the number that matters.
Graft and protect
Material is placed against the narrow wall and covered with a membrane, sometimes held with small fixation screws.
Four to nine months
Larger augmentations sit at the longer end. The membrane must stay covered, so the site is reviewed along the way.
Rescan and place
A second scan confirms real width has been gained before an implant is planned into it.
What it affects
Ridge augmentation width decides how the tooth looks
A thin ridge does not only make placement harder, it changes the shape of the gum above it. At the front that is the difference between a crown that emerges naturally and one that looks long or leaves a dark shadow, which is why front cases so often need ridge augmentation. The stakes are set out on Front Tooth Implant.
At the back, width matters more for durability than appearance: a post surrounded by bone on all sides is far more predictable long term. Either way the cost and the added months belong in the plan from the start, as covered on Dental Implant Cost, and the wider picture of why jaws change shape is on Jawbone Bone Loss.
Cross sectionMeasured as
WidthRebuilds
Gum shapeMatters for
Related treatments
Victoria grafting: height, prevention and the general graft
The other grafting routes and where each one applies.
Why width matters, how long it takes and whether it always works.
Sometimes you can, and where the bite allows it we will suggest exactly that. The limit is that a post still needs bone on both sides to survive long term. A narrow implant in a knife edge ridge has no margin, and that is a poor trade for saving a few months.
It depends on the defect shape. Contained defects with walls on several sides rebuild very predictably. A flat, wide area of loss is harder and may need staged work or a block graft. The scan lets us tell you which category your site is in.
Generally yes, because the area is larger and the flap is bigger. Expect swelling for several days and soreness for about a week. It is still done under local anaesthetic and most people manage on over the counter pain relief.
It is the main complication and it needs prompt attention, because an exposed membrane invites infection and can cost you part of the graft. Tell us straight away rather than waiting for the review. Caught early, the site can usually be managed without losing the result.
Not always. Success is high in contained defects and lower in large flat ones, and smoking reduces it substantially. If a graft does not deliver the width, we reassess rather than placing a post into bone that will not hold it.
Victoria patients
What Victoria ridge augmentation patients say
★★★★★4.9· 118 reviews on Google
★★★★★
The ridge had collapsed inward. Rebuilding the width is what made the final crown look right.
A. Thorne
Front ridge, Victoria
★★★★★
Told the honest odds for my defect shape rather than a blanket promise. It worked, but I knew the risk.
O. Lindqvist
Back ridge, Langford
★★★★★
Large area so they did it in stages. Slower but they explained why one big graft was riskier.
I. Haddad
Staged graft, Colwood
★★★★★
They checked whether a narrower post would do before proposing a graft. It did.
C. Aguilar
Narrow implant instead, Saanich
From the blog
Victoria implant guides: grafting, healing time and cost
Have the ridge measured before ridge augmentation in Victoria
Width cannot be judged by looking. A CBCT scan shows the ridge in cross section and tells you whether a post fits as things stand, whether a narrower one would do, or whether the width has to be rebuilt first.
