Simultaneous and staged approaches for guided bone regeneration.

Two approaches for obtaining bone augmentation around implants by guided tissue regeneration are described. In the first, bone is regenerated simultaneously with implant placement, which is a time saving tactic. However, when initial stability of the implant cannot be obtained because of insufficient bone volume, a staged approach must be considered. In the staged approach, the bone is augmented and the implant is inserted later. The staged approach offers improved primary stability, allows the implant to be inserted in mature bone, and enables examination of the newly augmented bone before a decision is made whether or not to use it as an implant site. Two case reports are presented which illustrate the approaches.