When insufficient bone exists for the placement of dental implants, dentoalveolar reconstruction procedures such as sinus lifts or guided-tissue regeneration may be used to enhance the implant placement site. A retrospective study by Woo, et al was designed to determine if the use of such reconstruction procedures is an independent risk factor for implant failure. The study evaluated 677 patients who had 677 implants placed between May 1992 and July 2000. The main predictor variable was the use of dentoalveolar reconstructive procedures such as external or internal sinus lifts, onlay bone grafting, or guided-tissue regeneration with autogenous bone grafts or autogenous bone graft substitutes. The study found an overall implant survival rate of 95.2% after one year and 90.2% after 5 years. Four factors were revealed to be statistically or nearly statistically associated with implant failure: current tobacco use, implant length, implant staging, and type of prosthesis. The use of dentoalveolar reconstruction procedures to enhance deficient implant recipient sites was not found to be an independent risk factor for implant failure.
(Source: Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Vol. 62, No. 7, 2004)
