I just returned from the annual meeting of the Academy of Osseointegration that was held in San Francisco this year. It was filled with speakers and dentists who have a passion for bone biology and how to grow bone. You may ask- what is osseointegration? In dental terms we use it to describe how bone grows around dental implants to make it a solid fixture in one’s jaws. The bone healing cells of our body grow around the dental implant and “integrate” it into the jawbone. There is a race between the bone cells and epithelial (skin) cells to fill the gap that between the implant and the bone. A successful implant will have bone along the majority of the implant making it very stable to support a tooth or fixture. In situations when a tooth has been missing for some time, bone loss will present. If there is not enough bone, then placing an implant will be difficult or not possible. What’s great, is that we have a lot to offer in bone grafting to help get the site ready to receive an implant. One of the things I have seen that helps with this osseointegration is adding a concentration of the patient’s own bone healing cells (Platelet Rich Fibrin) into the graft to help promote the bone healing cascade.