Assessment of the autogenous bone graft for sinus elevation

The posterior maxillary region often provides a limited bone volume for dental implants. Maxillary sinus elevation via inserting a bone graft through a window opened in the lateral sinus wall has become the most common surgical procedure for increasing the alveolar bone height in place of dental implants in the posterior maxillary region. The purpose of this article is to assess the change of bone volume and the clinical effects of dental implant placement in sites with maxillary sinus floor elevation and autogenous bone graft through the lateral window approach.

In this article, the analysis data were collected from 64 dental implants that were placed in 24 patients with 29 lacks of the bone volume posterior maxillary region from June 2004 to April 2011, at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Inha University Hospital. Panoramic views were taken before the surgery, after the surgery, 6 months after the surgery, and at the time of the final follow-up. The influence of the factors on the grafted bone material resorption rate was evaluated according to the patient characteristics (age and gender), graft material, implant installation stage, implant size, implant placement region, local infection, surgical complication, and residual alveolar bone height.

The bone graft resorption rate of male patients at the final follow-up was significantly higher than the rate of female patients. The single autogenous bone-grafted site was significantly more resorbed than the autogenous bone combined with the Bio-Oss grafted site. The implant installation stage and residual alveolar height showed a significant correlation with the resorption rate of maxillary sinus bone graft material. The success rate and survival rate of the implant were 92.2% and 100%, respectively.

Maxillary sinus elevation procedure with autogenous bone graft or autogenous bone in combination with Bio-Oss is a predictable treatment method for implant rehabilitation.