Minimally invasive approach with tissue engineering for severe alveolar bone atrophy case

The gold standard of bone augmentation for dental implants in severe alveolar bone atrophy is autogenous bone graft, but it has disadvantages such as limited amounts of grafted bone, poor morphological and aesthetic outcomes, and donor-site morbidity and invasiveness, especially in cases with diseases. In this reported case, the authors applied a novel tissue engineering method as minimally invasive surgery for a 58-year-old patient who had severe bone atrophy. The method, tissue-engineered bone (TEB), composed of mesenchymal stem cells as stem cells, platelet-rich plasma as growth factor and guided bone regeneration membrane. After bone regeneration by TEB, three 13 mm long dental implants were inserted. Adequate bone regeneration was shown by radiological analysis and histological observation. The augmented bone height was 4.2mm after the operation and the radiopaque areas were increased. The clinical progress over 2 years showed a good course without bone resorption. These results indicated that TEB, as bone regeneration treatment with minimal invasiveness, could be useful as one of the novel options in dental implant treatment with severe bone atrophy.