Augmentation of the vertical bone defects of the mandible and maxilla with autogenous bone block

Introduction: Vertical augmentation of the alveolar process for dental implantation is a well-established approach. The literature suggests that vertical ridge augmentation is associated with an elevated risk of complications and bone resorption compared to lateral bone augmentation or sinus elevation. Objective: We sought to retrospectively analyze the long-term success of vertical augmentation in terms of bone stability and complications. Method: We reviewed the medical records of 186 patients who underwent monocortical bone augmentation and nar-rowed them down to two smaller groups. Patients in one group were treated by sinus elevation, while patients in the other group were treated by vertical ridge augmentation. In both groups, the treatment was carried out utilizing autogenous monocortical bone blocks. Only those files were selected for analysis where follow-up documentation of a minimum of 3 years with panoramic X-ray images was available. We analyzed the frequency and degree of bone resorption and the frequency of implant loss and complications. Results: 72% of the augmentation cases and 92% of the implants in the sinus elevation group were free of bone resorp-tion in contrast to the vertical ridge augmentation group where only 46% of the augmentation cases and 24% of the implants were free of bone resorption. No implant loss or peri-implant complications were observed in either group. Conclusion: The results support the literature in that the risk of bone resorption is higher in cases of vertical ridge augmentation. However, this was not accompanied by functional alterations, peri-implant complications, or inflam-matory phenomena and neither did it lead to implant loss, even in cases with more than a decade of follow-up.