Marginal Bone Loss in Implants Placed in the Maxillary Sinus Grafted With Anorganic Bovine Bone: A Prospective Clinical and Radiographic Study

Background: Sinus elevation is a reliable and often-used technique. Success of implants placed in such situations, even with bone substitutes alone, prompted the authors of this study to strive for bone loss close to zero and research variables that cause higher or lower rates of resorption. The objective of this study is to evaluate survival rates and marginal bone loss (MBL) around implants placed in sites treated with maxillary sinus augmentation using anorganic bovine bone (ABB), and identify surgical and prosthetic prognostic variables. Methods: Fifty-five implants were placed in 30 grafted maxillary sinuses in 24 patients. Periapical radiographs were evaluated immediately after implant placement (baseline), 6 months, and at the most recent follow-up. MBL was calculated from the difference between initial and final measurements, taking into account a distortion rate for each radiograph compared with original implant measurements. Results: Survival rate was 98.2%, with only one implant lost (100% survival rate after loading) over a mean follow-up time of 2.0 +/- 0.9 years. MBL ranged from 0 to 2.85 mm: 75.9% of mesial sites and 83.4% of distal sites showed < 1 mm of MBL, whereas 35.2% of mesial sites and 37% of distal sites exhibited no bone loss. MBL was significantly (P <0.05) greater in open-flap compared with flapless surgery. Conclusions: Within the limitations of the present study, it was concluded that maxillary sinus elevation with 100% ABB gives predictable results, and that flapless surgery results in less MBL compared with traditional open-flap surgery.