An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: A review on ridge augmentation

Abstract

A deformed alveolar ridge may result from periodontal disease, trauma, tooth extraction, tumor, or congenital defects. The ridge deformity is directly related with the volume of the root structure and associated bone that is missing or has been destroyed. The esthetic, hygiene, and functional concerns can be the formation of “black triangles” interdentally, loss of buccal/facial contour, an unesthetic thick pontic made to compensate the horizontal ridge defect, food impaction in the open interdental spaces under the pontic, difficulty in speech and unesthetic gingival texture. In today's practice, patients with normal skeletal pattern who have lost a substantial degree of their original osseous dimensions due to tooth loss or trauma are much more prevalent. Alveolar ridge defects are common and poise a significant problem in dental treatment and rehabilitation. A thorough knowledge of ridge augmentation is required for successful interdisciplinary approaches. Therefore, the time-honored proverb that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is most applicable to the many problems involved in the successful reconstruction of localized defects that exist within the alveolar ridge. The following databases were searched to collect all relevant articles in relation to ridge augmentation procedures “PubMed” and “Medline” using the following descriptors–ridge augmentation, ridge preservation, allografts, autografts, block bone grafts, interdisciplinary approach, and the data was accumulated and analyzed. All the articles available from 1920 to December 2014 were included for review analysis. A total number of 520 articles were collected out of which most relevant ones were included in this article. CLINICAL RELEVANCE TO INTERDISCIPLINARY DENTISTRY Dental professionals have the opportunity to make their patients aware of these new treatment modalities in regard to ridge preservation and augmentation. Recent findings and scientific research articles support the use of ridge augmentation for better esthetics. A future development of the application of ridge augmentation in interdisciplinary dentistry requires a comprehensive joint program to provide the patient with the best available treatment in this field.