Sinus graft with safescraper: 5-year results

Area of Science:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Regenerative Medicine
• Dental Implantology

Background:

• Autogenous bone is the gold standard for sinus floor elevation, typically harvested from donor sites like the iliac crest.
• Alternative bone substitutes exist, but autogenous bone offers superior osteogenic potential.
• Harvesting autogenous bone often requires a separate surgical procedure, increasing patient morbidity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report the experience with the Safescraper device for harvesting autogenous bone from the oral cavity.
• To propose a decision-making algorithm for grafting in sinus floor elevation procedures.
• To evaluate the clinical and radiological outcomes of sinus augmentation using intraoral autogenous bone.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective case series of 40 sinus augmentation procedures in 34 patients.
• Autogenous bone harvested from the maxillary area using a Safescraper device.
• Grafting material consisted of a mixture of autogenous bone and bovine hydroxyapatite, with platelet-rich plasma.
• Dental implants were placed using a flapless procedure 4 months post-augmentation.

Main Results:

• Successful new bone formation confirmed radiologically in all cases.
• Histology and microcomputed tomography demonstrated mature bone in biopsy samples.
• Dental implant placement was successful in all cases, with only one instance of healing problems.

Conclusions:

• Sinus augmentation using intraoral autogenous bone harvested with a bone scraper is an effective procedure.
• This technique avoids extra-surgical approaches, yielding satisfactory bone formation and implant survival.
• Combining this method with flapless implant placement reduces overall treatment morbidity and improves patient satisfaction.