Clinical outcomes of vertical bone augmentation to enable dental implant placement: a systematic review

Background: This review addressed the focused question of what is the predictability of vertical ridge augmentation techniques for patients, who were diagnosed with insufficient alveolar bone volume for the placement of dental implants.
Material and Methods: A systematic online review of three main databases was performed between 1966 and 1 November 2007. Four groups of vertical bone augmentation techniques have been identified and evaluated: (1) guided bone regeneration, (2) distraction osteogenesis, (3) onlay bone grafting, and (4) an array of different techniques. Data extraction was based on the following outcomes: (a) success and failure rate of the procedure (vertical bone gain/loss), (b) complication rate of the procedure, and (c) implant survival, success and failure rate.
Results: The initial search identified 189 papers from the electronic database. The review produced seven papers for GBR, 13 reporting distraction osteogenesis, five for onlay bone grafting and three describing different techniques.
Conclusions: For the concept of vertical ridge augmentation to enable dental implant placement, there are clinical and histological data supporting its potential use. Given the confined number of investigators using these techniques and the low number of patient treatments reported in the literature, the generalizability of this approach is limited at this time.