Bone Resorption During Submerged Healing After Guided Bone Regeneration: A Prospective Case Series.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate bone resorption quantitatively during the healing period subsequent to ridge augmentation.

Materials And Methods: Sixteen patients requiring vertical ridge augmentation before implant placement were recruited in the study. The study used an allograft and nonresorbable membrane. A custom acrylic stent was used to measure changes in bone volume. Augmented bone was compared with remaining bone 6 months after guided bone regeneration (α = 0.05 by means of the paired t test).

Results: All sites following the six months post-surgery were analyzed. Overall changes in alveolar bone were observed with a mean resorption rate of 19.8% (p<0.001). The vertical bone measurement indicated a mean resorption rate of 22.8% (range = 18.5% - 26.5%). The horizontal measurement indicated a mean resorption rate of 18.7% (range = 12.6% - 26.0%). Among the sixteen sites, four sites with post-operative complications including membrane exposure showed an average of 42.1% resorption rates.

Conclusion: Loss in graft quantity was observed after ridge augmentation using an allograft and nonresorbable membrane during submerged healing before implant placement. Further studies with larger sample sizes are recommended to confirm its findings.