Lateral Displacement of Maxillary Sinus Palatal Wall: A 1-Year Retrospective Computerized Tomography Study

To examine the short-term outcomes of maxillary sinus augmentations consisting of laterally and apically displacing the palatal wall through a transcrestal approach.

The maxillary sinus floor was fractured in its palatal aspect by allowing a displacement in the buccal and apical direction with a magnetoelectric system. A medial displacement of the alveolar crest in its palatal bony plate was performed at the same time. Crestal bone change was investigated using superimposed preoperative and postsurgical computed tomography scans. Clinical and radiologic outcomes over 1 year were evaluated.

A total of 18 implants were selected for retrospective volumetric and linear analyses. Sinus floor and alveolar bone augmentation surgery led to a significant increase in the bone volume (P = .0002) from 0.134 ± 0.060 cm³ to 0.639 ± 0.166 cm³, with an overall gain of +0.504 ± 0.139 cm³. No part of the implant apices appeared to protrude into the maxillary sinus at the 1-year follow-up. The width of the alveolar crest changed from 5.1 ± 0.5 mm to 6.5 ± 0.7 mm, with a significant increase of +1.4 ± 0.6 mm registered at 1 year. However, a marginal bone loss of 1.0 ± 0.8 mm was observed. When tooth positions were investigated, no significant differences between the two groups (premolars versus molars) were found.

Significant and effective bone gains allowed proper placement of the dental implants but with a minimal loss of peri-implant bone volume.