A Comparative Volumetric Study of Symphysis Donor Defects, Unfilled or Filled with Bone Substitute

Abstract

Background Intraoral autogenous bone grafts are a convenient source of bone in reconstruction of the residual ridge before dental implant placement. The aim of this study was to evaluate bone volume of symphysis donor defects filled with bone substitute compared with unfilled symphysis donor defects. The study included 26 patients who underwent either alveolar ridge reconstruction or maxillary sinus elevation. Two groups were studied: symphyseal donor defects filled with bone substitute and unfilled symphyseal donor defects. Pre- and postoperative volumetric variables were determined using computed tomography scans and the software program SimPlant® (Materialise Dental Italia, Roma, Italy). At 6 months postsurgery, the filled donor defects exhibited a significant increase in bone volume compared with unfilled donor defects (97.7% and 73.4%, respectively). At 18 months postsurgery, volume of unfilled donor defects was reevaluated with no significant increase in bone volume. Six months following block harvesting procedure, filled donor defects maintained bone volume, while unfilled donor sites generated defects that cannot achieve full regeneration; even not 18 months postblock harvesting.