Horizontal guided bone regeneration on knife-edge ridges: A retrospective case-control pilot study comparing two...

Area of Science:

• Periodontology
• Dental Implantology
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Guided bone regeneration (GBR) is used to augment horizontal bone width on knife-edge ridges.
• Previous studies report varied bone gains with absorbable membranes and staged approaches.
• This study compares a conventional GBR technique with a novel approach.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the horizontal bone gain achieved with a conventional GBR technique versus the Sausage Technique.
• To evaluate bone loss during the healing phase in both techniques.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving patients undergoing GBR on knife-edge ridges.
• Two groups: conventional GBR (control) and Sausage Technique (test).
• GBR utilized collagen membranes and deproteinized bovine bone mineral with autogenous graft (1:1 ratio).
• Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) assessed horizontal bone width at 2mm apical to the crest, preoperatively, postoperatively, and post-healing.

Main Results:

• The Sausage Technique group achieved significantly greater mean horizontal bone gain (5.3 ± 2.3 mm; 216.8%) compared to the control group (2.7 ± 1.8 mm; 83.2%) (p=0.003).
• Average horizontal bone loss during healing was 0.9 mm (27.9%) in the control group and 2.1 mm (29.4%) in the test group.
• Absolute bone loss differed significantly (p=0.012), but the percentage of bone resorption was comparable (p=0.608).

Conclusions:

• The Sausage Technique demonstrates superior efficacy in achieving horizontal bone gain compared to conventional GBR on knife-edge ridges.
• Graft resorption rates during healing are consistent irrespective of the grafted material volume or technique employed.