Long-term results with different bone substitutes used for sinus floor elevation

One of the surgical procedures preceding implantation is elevation of the base of the maxillary sinus. Numerous bone substituting materials (grafts) may be used for this purpose, including autogenous bone, heterografts, xenogenous bone, and synthetic materials alone or in combination or mixed with growth factors and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) preparations. A study of the frequencies of the failures (graft material resorption or implant loss) after sinus elevations with various graft materials or their combinations was conducted. In the 5-year period from 1996 through 2001, a follow-up investigation of 810 maxillary sinus augmentations was performed, in which the sinus elevations involved the use of autogenous bone, a calcium carbonate-coated polymer, hydroxylapatite of algal origin, calcium carbonate gel produced from coral or beta-tricalcium phosphate alone, autogenous bone mixed with these bone substitutes, or a combination of beta-tricalcium phosphate and platelet-rich plasma. The incidences of graft resorption and implant loss after the augmentations with various bone substitutes were recorded. Total resorption (disappearance) of the bone substitute material was observed in 2.7% of the cases. An essential difference was not experienced between the various bone substitutes from this aspect, with the exception of the gel-state calcium carbonate, where 40% of the grafts were resorbed. In total, 5.46% of the implants were lost; the differences between the various materials were not significant.