Surgical success of intraoral autogenous block onlay bone grafting for alveolar ridge augmentation

This article evaluates the surgical success of alveolar bone augmentation using intraoral block bone graft prior to dental implantation and measures the amount of bone accumulation using this technique. A consecutive retrospective study was conducted on patients who had onlay bone grafts from 1999 to 2001. Files of 56 healthy patients reporting 64 bone graft operations were reviewed. Medical history, smoking status, area of surgery, bone origin (donor sites) and complications were recorded. Panoramic and tomographic radiographs were measured for the vertical and horizontal bone addition and mesiodistal dimension of the graft. Graft exposure or/and graft removal were defined as failure; hematoma, swelling, inflammation, or temporary paresthesia were defined as complications. The average vertical addition was 5.6 mm measured from the bottom of the vertical lesion before bone grafting to the top of the graft. The average faciolingual addition was 3.8 mm. The mesiodistal graft length ranged from 4 mm to 67 mm (average 15.2 mm). According to our criteria, 56 (87.5%) of the 64 bone grafts were successful, 46 (71.9%) were totally uneventful, and 10 (15.6%) had complications. Smoking and diabetes were associated with a high rate of complications and graft failure. More complications were observed in the vertical than in the horizontal bone grafts. Intraoral bone block graft is a predictable operation with high success rates that provides faciolingual and vertical bone addition. Onlay bone grafting has a low rate of complications and failures. Intraoral bone graft should not be recommended for diabetic patients and smokers.