10-year follow-up of onlay bone grafts and implants in severely resorbed maxillae

Thirty patients with extremely resorbed maxillae had reconstructive bone grafts from the ala iliaca and endosseous implants in a one-stage procedure. The first ten patients constituted a development group and the following 20 patients a routine group. The marginal bone level and implants success rate was evaluated in a prospective long-term follow-up for a minimum of 10 years (10-13 years). Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed at 6 months and then annually up to 5 years. The final examinations were performed at the 10-year follow-up. The bridges were removed at every clinical examination. Marginal bone loss was seen up to the 3-year examination, where it averaged 4.6 mm in the routine group. Between the 3- and 10-year follow-up no significant change was registered. The initial bone loss was probably due to the design of the 3.6 mm conical unthreaded marginal part of the implant. The implant success rate was 83.1% in the routine group. Failures mostly occurred during the first 2 years (14 out of 20). A substantial amount of bone can be gained in patients with extremely resorbed maxillae, when treated with bone graft according to the procedure described in this study.