Comparative Evaluation of Different Alveolar Ridge Width Measurement Techniques in Dental Implant Treatment Planning:...

In todays era dental implant has become the dependable therapeutic treatment for the replacement of missing teeth. The success of dental implants depends not only on osteointegration of the implant but also on the surrounding hard and soft tissue. Presurgical evaluation of alveolar ridge width and height is of paramount important for implant placement. There are several methods to evaluate the alveolar ridge width and height such as ridge mapping and CBCT. This study included 30 sites from 8 patients in the age ranging from 30 to 65 years. A stent was prepared and the width of the alveolar ridge was estimated employing the following techniques: Group I: Measurement of alveolar ridge width on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) method, group II: Measurement of alveolar ridge width by ridge mapping technique, group III: Measurement of alveolar ridge width by surgical exposure. The minimum value for ridge mapping with caliper is 2 and maximum value is 9 with mean 4.5667 ± 1.63335 with standard error 0.29821. The minimum value for Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is 1.80 and maximum value is 9.30 with mean 4.6233 ± 1.67119 with standard error 0.30512. The minimum value for direct intrasurgical measurement with caliper is 2 and maximum value is 9 with mean 4.2000 ± 1.58441 with standard error 0.28927. Cone beam computed tomography could also be used to measure the ridge width accurately. Apart from measurement of alveolar ridge dimensions it had multiple other uses and thus can be advised as per requirement of the clinician.