Purpose: The purposes of this study were to evaluate the clinical success of bone reconstruction of the severely atrophic maxilla using autogenous bone harvested from the anterosuperior edge of iliac wing and to analyze the clinical success and the marginal bone level of dental implants placed 4 to 5 months after bone grafting and before prosthetic rehabilitation.
Patients and methods: Fifty-six patients (18 men, 38 women) aged 27 to 63 years were included in the study and required treatment for maxillary atrophy. All patients selected were scheduled for onlay bone graft and titanium implants in a 2-stage procedure. The dental implants were inserted 4 to 5 months after grafting.
Results: No major complications were observed from the donor sites. A total of 129 onlay bone grafts were used to augment 56 severely resorbed maxillas. Three out of 129 bone grafts had to be removed because of early exposure occurring with bone grafts placed to increase the vertical dimension of the alveolar ridge. One hundred sixty-two implants were placed in the area of bone augmentation. Seven implants failed to integrate and were successfully re-placed without any need for additional bone grafting. The clinical measurements for bone resorption around implants revealed a mean bone loss of 0.05 mm (+/- 0.2); the marginal bone level evaluated with periapical radiographies was 0.3 mm (+/- 0.4) at implant placement and 0.1 mm (+/- 0.3) 6 months after placement.
Conclusion: The success rate of the block grafts was very good. The clinical and radiographic bone observations showed a very low rate of resorption after bone graft and implant placement. Therefore, on the basis of this preliminary study, iliac bone grafts (from the anterosuperior edge of the iliac wing) can be considered a promising treatment for severe maxillary atrophy.