Does Graft Particle Type and Size Affect Ridge Dimensional Changes After Alveolar Ridge Split Procedure?

Area of Science:

• Oral surgery
• Dental implantology
• Bone regeneration

Background:

• Bone augmentation is crucial for dental implant placement when native bone volume is insufficient.
• Ridge split procedures are used to increase alveolar ridge width.
• Graft materials, including allografts and alloplasts, are employed for bone augmentation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare ridge width gain using allografts versus alloplasts (biphasic β-tricalcium phosphate with hydroxyapatite) in ridge split procedures.
• To evaluate the effect of small (0.25-1 mm) and large (1-2 mm) particle sizes of these graft materials on ridge width gain.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 23 patients with severe mandibular atrophy.
• Patients were allocated to receive either alloplast or allograft materials.
• Graft materials were further randomized into small or large particle sizes.
• Ridge width gain was measured before implant placement.

Main Results:

• Alloplasts resulted in significantly greater average ridge width gain compared to allografts.
• Large particle size grafts (both alloplast and allograft) yielded significantly more ridge width gain than small particle sizes.
• Specific average gains: Alloplast (large: 4.40±0.24 mm; small: 3.52±0.59 mm) vs. Allograft (large: 3.82±0.19 mm; small: 2.57±0.16 mm).

Conclusions:

• Large particle alloplasts are recommended as the preferred graft material for staged ridge split procedures in the posterior mandible.
• Graft particle size significantly influences the degree of ridge width augmentation.
• The study provides evidence for optimizing bone graft selection in implant dentistry.