Onlay grafts in combination with endosseous implants in severe mandibular atrophy: one year results of a prospective, quantitative radiological study

In taking an overall view of the radiographs made of patients that underwent simultaneous onlay-grafting and implant placement in the anterior mandible, changes are seen in the grafts. The impression arose that a number of stages could be distinguished in this process of remodelling of the graft. The purpose of the present study was to objectivate the existence of those stages in the first year after bone-grafting by densitometric and height measurements of the onlay grafts using standardized extraoral radiographs (OLCR) and densitometric analysis in a group of 8 patients. OLCRs were taken at regular intervals in the first year after surgery. The measurements were performed in three fixed fields, both ventrally and dorsally of each implant. Generally the densitometric measurement fields were located at the (upper) cortex, the upper spongiosa and the lower spongiosa of the onlay graft. The OLCRs were also used for measurements of the height of the complete graft and of the thickness of the cortex of the graft, using a gauged caliper. The results indicate the following remodelling of the structure of the onlay grafts: 1) decrease in the thickness and the radiographic density of the (upper) cortex of the onlay graft predominantly in the first 6-month period; 2) no significant changes in the radiographic density of the upper spongeous part of the graft; 3) a decrease of approximately 25% in the overall height of the graft, particularly during the first 6-month period; 4) an increase in the radiographic density of the lower part of the spongeous bone in the second 6-month period. It is concluded that the remodelling of the graft has a predictable pattern in time: the first half year being dominated by bone resorption, mainly confined to the cortex of the graft, whereas the second half year is characterized by an increase in bone density in the (remaining) cortex as well as the lower spongeous parts of the graft.