Ridge Augmentation
Teaneck, NJ & Roselle, NJ
 If your dentist has told you that you need ridge augmentation in Teaneck or Roselle, NJ before getting dental implants, RJ Dental performs the procedure in-house with the same oral surgery–trained team that places the implants afterward. Ridge augmentation is a type of bone grafting that rebuilds the width or height of the upper or lower jawbone – the alveolar ridge – in the spot where a tooth used to be. It’s a step that’s specific to certain implant cases, not a routine part of every implant treatment plan.
Most patients hear about ridge augmentation when they’ve been missing a tooth for a while. After an extraction, the body slowly resorbs the bone that used to support that tooth. Over months or years, the ridge can lose enough width or height that there’s no longer a stable foundation for a dental implant. Ridge augmentation rebuilds that foundation so the implant can be placed where it belongs.
If a 3D scan shows you have enough bone, you skip this step entirely. If it shows a deficiency, the consultation walks through what kind of graft your case calls for, how long you’ll wait before the implant goes in, and what the total timeline looks like. We don’t recommend ridge augmentation for cases that don’t need it.
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What Is Ridge Augmentation?
 Ridge augmentation rebuilds bone where a tooth used to live. When a tooth is removed and not replaced quickly, the alveolar ridge – the part of the jawbone that held the tooth’s root – starts to shrink. The bone narrows from side to side first, and over time can lose vertical height as well. Without enough bone, an implant either won’t fit, won’t stay, or won’t look right when restored.
The procedure adds bone material to the deficient area and protects it with a barrier membrane while the body integrates the graft into your existing bone. After healing, the rebuilt ridge has the width and height needed to support an implant. The graft material can come from a few sources, which we choose based on the case and your preferences: synthetic bone substitute, processed donor bone, or in some cases your own bone harvested from another site in the jaw.
When You Need Ridge Augmentation
A 3D Cone Beam CT scan is what tells us. The scan measures the ridge in three dimensions, and we compare those measurements to what an implant needs to anchor properly. The most common scenarios we treat:
- Long-term tooth loss – A tooth has been missing for a year or more without a replacement, and the ridge has narrowed.
- Failed prior implant – A previous implant was lost, leaving a defect that the standard healing process didn’t fully fill in.
- Periodontal bone loss – Advanced gum disease destroyed bone in the area before the tooth came out.
- Trauma to the jaw – A fall or sports injury caused a localized loss of ridge volume.
- Anatomically narrow ridge – Some patients have naturally thin ridges that wouldn’t have supported an implant even right after extraction.
The deficiency is usually classified as horizontal (the ridge is too narrow side-to-side) or vertical (the ridge is too short top-to-bottom). Horizontal cases are more common and generally simpler to correct. Vertical cases are more complex, and the consultation lays out what’s realistic for your specific anatomy.
How It Differs from Sinus Lift and Socket Preservation
Three procedures involve adding bone, and patients often confuse them. They target different anatomy and different timing.
Sinus lift surgery adds bone to the floor of the maxillary sinus in the upper back jaw, when an implant in that area would otherwise enter the sinus cavity. It’s specific to the upper molar region.
Socket preservation is preventive. We do it at the same visit as a tooth extraction to fill the empty socket and slow the bone loss that would otherwise happen during healing. It preserves what’s there at the moment of extraction.
Ridge augmentation is corrective. It’s done months or years after the bone has already been lost, to rebuild what’s no longer there. If you’d had socket preservation at the time of extraction, you might not need ridge augmentation now. If you didn’t, this is the procedure that gets the site ready for an implant.
Your Ridge Augmentation Care Team in Teaneck & Roselle
Dr. Shahin Ghobadi completed his postgraduate Oral Surgery residency at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center after earning his DMD at UMDNJ. He’s an active member of the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, and the AAOMS awarded him the Dental Implant Student Award in 2004 – full credentials on Dr. Ghobadi’s bio. Ridge augmentation sits squarely inside the surgical scope his residency trained for: incision design, graft placement, membrane management, and the case selection that determines whether a horizontal or vertical correction is realistic for your specific anatomy.
For patients planning their full implant pathway, Dr. Richard Buffong leads the implant placement and restoration that follow once the ridge has healed. He earned his Fellowship in Implantology (FICOI) at the International Congress on Implantology and places implants and implant-supported restorations at RJ Dental. More on Dr. Buffong’s bio. The two doctors plan the augmentation and the implant placement together, so the bone is built where the implant will eventually go and not in a generic location.
The Ridge Augmentation Process
Ridge augmentation runs across two main appointments separated by months of healing. The total timeline from your first consultation to the final implant restoration depends on your case, but the augmentation phase itself follows a predictable rhythm.
Consultation and 3D Imaging
Your first visit covers the exam, your medical and dental history, and a Cone Beam CT scan if you don’t already have a recent one. The CBCT is what lets us see the deficiency in three dimensions and decide whether you actually need augmentation. (Many patients are told they need it on a 2D x-ray, then learn from the 3D scan that they have more bone than the flat image suggested.) If you do, we lay out the type of graft, the materials, and the timeline. If you take blood thinners or other medications that affect bone healing, we coordinate with your physician between this visit and the procedure.
The Augmentation Procedure
On the day of the procedure, we numb the area with local anesthesia and walk you through the plan one more time. Dr. Ghobadi makes a small incision in the gum to expose the deficient ridge, places the graft material against the existing bone, covers it with a barrier membrane, and closes the gum with sutures. Depending on the size of the defect, the procedure usually takes 60 to 90 minutes. We use block grafts (a piece of solid bone secured with small screws) for larger horizontal or vertical defects, and particulate grafts (granules of graft material under a membrane) for smaller corrections.
Healing and Implant Placement
After the procedure, the graft needs time to integrate with your existing bone. Most cases heal over four to six months, with some larger vertical augmentations taking longer. We see you at one week to remove sutures and check the site, and again at follow-up intervals to monitor the integration. Once a follow-up CBCT confirms the bone has the volume the implant needs, we move forward with the dental implant placement. From the augmentation appointment to the final restoration on top of the implant, the typical total timeline runs eight to twelve months.
Benefits of Ridge Augmentation
 The benefits of ridge augmentation are practical and specific to implant cases. The procedure isn’t an end in itself; it’s the step that makes a stable, predictable implant possible when the bone wouldn’t otherwise support one. At RJ Dental, the augmentation and the implant are planned on the same Cone Beam CT scan, so the bone we build is built for the specific implant we’ll place later.
A wider, taller ridge means we can place an implant of normal length and width in the position that matches the missing tooth. Our doctors plan that position before placing any graft material, which is why patients here don’t end up with a successful augmentation followed by an implant in a compromised location. Without augmentation, the alternatives are usually a shorter or narrower implant in a less-than-ideal spot, no implant at all (a bridge or denture instead), or a referral to a more specialized facility.
For aesthetics, especially in the front of the mouth, ridge volume affects how the final crown looks against your gumline. A deficient ridge often produces a long-looking crown or a visible dark line at the gum, even after a successful implant. Augmentation gives the soft tissue something to drape over, so the final result looks like the tooth that used to be there. Our soft tissue laser is part of the gum contouring and crown lengthening that finishes a front-tooth case, and that detail-level work depends on having built the bone correctly first.
For the long term, an implant placed in adequate bone has a stable foundation for decades of normal function. An implant forced into thin or short bone is more likely to fail and harder to revise if it does. Because Dr. Buffong handles the implant restoration and Dr. Ghobadi handles the augmentation in the same practice, the bone-and-implant decisions are made by the same team and not handed off mid-treatment to a different office that didn’t plan the case.
Why Choose Our Team for Ridge Augmentation
The short answer: continuity. Ridge augmentation isn’t a procedure you want to spread across three offices – one for the imaging, one for the surgery, and one for the implant. At RJ Dental, the imaging, the surgery, and the implant all happen at the same practice, with two doctors coordinating the plan from the first scan to the final crown.
Three things matter on this kind of case. First, the imaging that maps the deficiency accurately. Our Cone Beam CT scanner is in the office, so the scan and the planning happen in the same visit. Second, the OS-level training that handles the augmentation itself. Dr. Ghobadi’s residency at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center is the surgical credential. Third, the implant placement that builds on the rebuilt bone. Dr. Buffong’s implant work picks up once healing is confirmed. Three handoffs, one practice.
We see ridge augmentation candidates at our Teaneck location for patients across Bergen County and at our Roselle location for patients across Union County. Both offices share the same imaging standard and the same surgical workflow, so your case won’t depend on which one is more convenient for you.
If you’ve been told elsewhere that you need ridge augmentation and want to weigh your options, the consultation is the same whether or not you choose us. We review the imaging you have, take additional scans if needed, and tell you honestly whether augmentation is what we’d recommend.
Ridge Augmentation Cost and Financing
Cost matters, especially when ridge augmentation is one piece of a larger implant treatment plan. The fee depends on a few things: the size of the defect, whether the case calls for a particulate graft or a block graft, the type of graft material used, and whether your insurance covers the procedure under the surgical or implant category.
Our front office team verifies your benefits and provides a written estimate before any work starts. Some dental insurance plans cover at least a portion of medically necessary ridge augmentation, especially when it’s tied to documented bone loss. Coverage details vary by plan. Our insurance and financing page lists the carriers we participate with and the financing partners we work with for patients without coverage.
If you don’t carry dental insurance, our in-house Discount Plan takes a percentage off our standard fees for members. Cost shouldn’t be the reason an implant case stalls partway through – call either office and we’ll walk through the numbers with you before you commit to scheduling.
Schedule Your Ridge Augmentation Consultation
Ridge augmentation is most useful when it’s planned alongside the implant, not in isolation. Call (551) 369-2001 or request an appointment online to schedule a consultation. Our Teaneck office is at 865 Teaneck Rd, Teaneck, NJ 07666. Our Roselle office is at 121-125 Chestnut St, Ste 201, Roselle, NJ 07203. Bring any imaging or notes from a prior dentist, and we’ll go from there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I have to wait extra months for my implant if I need ridge augmentation?
Yes, ridge augmentation typically adds four to six months to your overall implant timeline, with larger vertical augmentations sometimes running longer. The graft has to integrate with your existing bone before an implant can be placed safely, and forcing the timeline almost always backfires – an implant placed in immature bone is more likely to fail. The flip side: this is a wait you do once. A failed implant in inadequate bone often means starting the augmentation later anyway, with more complications.
Where does the bone graft material come from?
Bone graft material can come from three sources. Synthetic bone substitute is biocompatible material engineered to behave like natural bone and is the most commonly used option. Processed donor bone (from human or bovine sources) has been used in dentistry for decades and is rigorously screened. Autograft, which is bone harvested from your own jaw at another site, is sometimes used for larger defects. We discuss the options at the consultation and choose based on the case and your preferences.
Is ridge augmentation painful?
Most patients describe the procedure itself as pressure rather than pain. We fully numb the area with local anesthesia first, and we wait until you confirm you can’t feel sharp sensation before starting. The first 48 to 72 hours after the procedure are usually the most uncomfortable, with mild swelling and tenderness that over-the-counter medication generally handles. Patients often tell us the worry beforehand was worse than the reality.
How is ridge augmentation different from a sinus lift?
Both procedures add bone, but they target different anatomy. A sinus lift adds bone to the floor of the maxillary sinus in the upper back jaw, where an implant would otherwise enter the sinus cavity. Ridge augmentation rebuilds the alveolar ridge, which is the bony foundation that held the tooth’s root, usually in the front-to-mid upper jaw or the lower jaw. Some cases need both procedures; many cases need only one. The 3D scan tells us which.
What if the graft doesn’t take?
Ridge augmentation has a high success rate when it’s done by a surgeon experienced with the procedure and the patient follows post-op instructions carefully. When a graft does fail to integrate fully, the consequences are usually a smaller-than-planned implant or a second, smaller graft, not a catastrophic outcome. We monitor the site at follow-up visits and only move forward with the implant when a confirming scan shows the bone is ready.
Does dental insurance cover ridge augmentation in Teaneck or Roselle, NJ?
Coverage varies. Some dental insurance plans cover ridge augmentation when it’s tied to a documented surgical or medical necessity, while others classify it as part of the implant treatment and cover only the implant portion. Our front office at RJ Dental verifies your specific benefits before treatment starts and provides a written estimate. Our insurance and financing page covers what to do if your plan doesn’t pay for the procedure, including in-house options.
Can I get a smaller implant instead of doing ridge augmentation?
Sometimes, but not always, and not without trade-offs. Mini dental implants are narrower than standard implants and can fit in ridges that wouldn’t accommodate a full-size implant, but they’re not appropriate in every position or under every restoration. Short implants are an option in some vertical cases. The honest answer: we don’t recommend forcing a smaller implant where the right answer is augmentation, because the long-term result is usually worse. The consultation tells you which choice fits your case.
Why should I choose RJ Dental for ridge augmentation in Teaneck and Roselle?
The combination of imaging, OS-level surgical training, and an in-house implant pathway is hard to find at a typical general dental practice. Dr. Ghobadi completed an oral surgery residency at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center and is an active AAOMS member, our Cone Beam CT scanner is in the office for accurate diagnosis, and Dr. Buffong’s implant work picks up once the bone has healed. Our two locations – Teaneck and Roselle – mean patients across Bergen and Union counties don’t have to drive far for either phase. |
