Alveolar Ridge Preservation Using the One-Piece Autologous Tuberosity Graft: A Clinical, Radiological, and Histological Pilot Study

This prospective study investigated clinically and radiologically the effectiveness of the use of a combined hard and soft tissue graft retrieved from the maxillary tuberosity and designed for alveolar ridge preservation following tooth extraction. Seven patients scheduled for a single mono-rooted tooth extraction were included in the study. After atraumatic extraction, sockets were filled with a "one-piece" dual tissue graft harvested from the tuberosity using an adjusted trephine. CBCTs were performed before the extraction and 4 months after ridge preservation, to analyze the vertical and horizontal alterations of the ridge, using ITK-Snap software. Clinical measurements of both soft and hard tissues were also assessed during the extraction and implant placement. All sites healed uneventfully. After 4 months, the 3D super-imposition of both CBCTs showed a mean bone volume resorption of 65 ± 76.7 mm3 (10.2 ± 10%). The mean horizontal reduction at 2, 4, and 6 mm from the top of the crest was respectively 1.5 ± 1.3 mm, 0.47 ± 1.4 mm and 0.57 ± 0.7 mm, while the mean vertical loss was 0.026 mm ± 2 mm. The mean soft tissue horizontal gain was 1.73 ± 1.12 mm. The "one-piece" autologous tuberosity graft was proven to be a safe and effective alveolar ridge preservation technique and may represent a feasible, user-friendly, time saving, low-cost solution for minimizing dimensional loss following tooth extraction.

Cyst volume changes measured with a 3D reconstruction after decompression of a mandibular dentigerous cyst with an impacted third molar

The aim of this article is to describe a large mandibular cyst treated with decompression followed by surgical enucleation. Furthermore, we described the utility of cyst volume measurements by using a 3D reconstruction on Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT). The dentigerous cyst is the most common cyst type of epithelial origin, arising from remnants of odontogenic epithelium, asymptomatic and associated with the crown of an unerupted or partially or completely impacted tooth. However, after a long duration and extension of the cyst volume it may provoke significant bone resorption, cortical expansion, tooth displacement and the vitality of neighboring teeth may be affected. The regular treatment of this lesion is enucleation and extraction of the involved tooth. Marsupialization and decompression are proposed when the volume of the cyst is well developed to release the cystic pressure and allow the bone cavity to progressively decrease in volume with the gradual apposition of bone. This report presents a large dentigerous cyst related to impacted mandibular third molar of a 21-year-old male patient. The cyst was treated successfully by decompression and later by surgical enucleation with surgical extraction of the related molar. In conclusion, the combination of decompression and surgical approach showed on the three-dimensional CBCT investigation a significant correlation between the treatment and volume reduction of the cyst. The clinical case described allows us to observe bone formation after decompression and surgical enucleation was performed with less risk on vital anatomic elements.