Accuracy of robotic surgery for dental implant placement: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

To systematically analyze the accuracy of robotic surgery for dental implant placement.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched on October 25, 2023. Model studies or clinical studies reporting the accuracy of robotic surgery for dental implant placement among patients with missing or hopeless teeth were included. Risks of bias in clinical studies were assessed. Meta-analyses were undertaken.

RESULTS

Data from 8 clinical studies reporting on 109 patients and 242 implants and 13 preclinical studies were included. Positional accuracy was measured by comparing the implant plan in presurgery CBCT and the actual implant position in postsurgery CBCT. For clinical studies, the pooled (95% confidence interval) platform deviation, apex deviation, and angular deviation were 0.68 (0.57, 0.79) mm, 0.67 (0.58, 0.75) mm, and 1.69 (1.25, 2.12)°, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the accuracy of implants placed in partially or fully edentulous patients. For model studies, the pooled platform deviation, apex deviation, and angular deviation were 0.72 (0.58, 0.86) mm, 0.90 (0.74, 1.06) mm, and 1.46 (1.22, 1.70)°, respectively. No adverse event was reported.

CONCLUSION

Within the limitation of the present systematic review, robotic surgery for dental implant placement showed suitable implant positional accuracy and had no reported obvious harm. Both robotic systems and clinical studies on robotic surgery for dental implant placement should be further developed.

Accuracy and safety of a haptic operated and machine vision controlled collaborative robot for dental implant placement: A translational study

OBJECTIVES

Multiple generations of medical robots have revolutionized surgery. Their application to dental implants is still in its infancy. Co-operating robots (cobots) have great potential to improve the accuracy of implant placement, overcoming the limitations of static and dynamic navigation. This study reports the accuracy of robot-assisted dental implant placement in a preclinical model and further applies the robotic system in a clinical case series.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

In model analyses, the use of a lock-on structure at robot arm-handpiece was tested in resin arch models. In a clinical case series, patients with single missing teeth or edentulous arch were included. Robot-assisted implant placement was performed. Surgery time was recorded. Implant platform deviation, apex deviation, and angular deviation were measured. Factors influencing implant accuracy were analyzed.

RESULTS

The in vitro results showed that with a lock-on structure, the mean (SD) of platform deviation, apex deviation, and angular deviation were 0.37 (0.14) mm, 0.44 (0.17) mm, and 0.75 (0.29)°, respectively. Twenty-one patients (28 implants) were included in the clinical case series, 2 with arches and 19 with single missing teeth. The median surgery time for single missing teeth was 23 (IQ range 20-25) min. The surgery time for the two edentulous arches was 47 and 70 min. The mean (SD) of platform deviation, apex deviation, and angular deviation was 0.54 (0.17) mm, 0.54 (0.11) mm, and 0.79 (0.22)° for single missing teeth and for 0.53 (0.17) mm, 0.58 (0.17) mm, and 0.77 (0.26)° for an edentulous arch. Implants placed in the mandible had significantly larger apex deviation than those in the maxilla.

CONCLUSION

Cobot-assisted dental implant placement showed excellent positional accuracy and safety in both the in vitro study and the clinical case series. More technological development and clinical research are needed to support the introduction of robotic surgery in oral implantology. Trial registered in ChiCTR2100050885.

Clinical, radiographic, and immunological evaluation of angulated screw-retained and cemented single-implant crowns in the esthetic region: A 1-year randomized controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND

Screw-retained implant crowns are considered more biologically compatible than cemented crowns due to the absence of excess cement. However, traditional screw-retained implant crowns are not viable when the access hole of the screw channel would need to be located in an esthetic area, which would compromise the esthetic outcome of the treatment.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the clinical, radiographic, and immunological outcomes of angulated screw-retained and cemented single-implant crowns in the esthetic region.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The study was a single-center, open-label, randomized controlled clinical trial. Eligible patients were randomly placed in two groups: angulated screw-retained group (AG) and cemented group (CG). Implant survival rate, bleeding on probing rate (BOP%), probing depth (PD), modified plaque index (mPI), marginal bone loss (MBL), concentrations of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6) in peri-implant crevicular fluid (PICF), mechanical complications, and pink esthetic score/white esthetic score (PES/WES) were evaluated.

RESULTS

Fifty-six patients (AG: 29, CG: 27) attended the 1-year examination. The drop-out rate was 6.67%. No implant failure was found in both groups during the observation period. BOP% was significantly lower in the AG than that in the CG (mean, 21.84% ± 19.97% vs. 37.04% ± 26.28%, p = 0.018). The concentration of TNF-α in PICF was significantly higher in the AG than that in the CG (median, 13.54 vs. 4.62, p = 0.019). No significant difference of PD, mPI, MBL, IL-6, or mechanical complication rates was found between the two groups. Mean scores for PES/WES were 21.71 and 21.64 in the AG and CG, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Based on the present results, both treatment options showed acceptable clinical outcomes in the short term. Angulated screw-retained crowns might benefit the peri-implant soft tissue. However, studies with long-term follow-up are needed to confirm whether the higher concentration of TNF-α will compromise the long-term outcomes of treatment.

Circ_0008542 in osteoblast exosomes promotes osteoclast-induced bone resorption through m6A methylation

With an increasing aging society, China is the world’s fastest growing markets for oral implants. Compared with traditional oral implants, immediate implants cause marginal bone resorption and increase the failure rate of osseointegration, but the mechanism is still unknown. Therefore, it is important to further study mechanisms of tension stimulus on osteoblasts and osteoclasts at the early stage of osseointegration to promote rapid osseointegration around oral implants. The results showed that exosomes containing circ_0008542 from MC3T3-E1 cells with prolonged tensile stimulation promoted osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption. Circ_0008542 upregulated Tnfrsf11a (RANK) gene expression by acting as a miR-185-5p sponge. Meanwhile, the circ_0008542 1916-1992 bp segment exhibited increased m6A methylation levels. Inhibiting the RNA methyltransferase METTL3 or overexpressing the RNA demethylase ALKBH5 reversed osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption induced by circ_0008542. Injection of circ_0008542 + ALKBH5 into the tail vein of mice reversed the same effects in vivo. Site-directed mutagenesis study demonstrated that 1956 bp on circ_0008542 is the m6A functional site with the abovementioned biological functions. In conclusion, the RNA methylase METTL3 acts on the m6A functional site of 1956 bp in circ_0008542, promoting competitive binding of miRNA-185-5p by circ_0008542, and leading to an increase in the target gene RANK and the initiation of osteoclast bone absorption. In contrast, the RNA demethylase ALKBH5 inhibits the binding of circ_0008542 with miRNA-185-5p to correct the bone resorption process. The potential value of this study provides methods to enhance the resistance of immediate implants through use of exosomes releasing ALKBH5.

Influence of Different Factors on the Accuracy of Digital Impressions of Multiple Implants: An In Vitro Study

PURPOSE

To investigate the effect of implant angulation, non-free-end partial edentulism, and number of scan bodies on the accuracy of digital impressions of multiple implants in partially edentulous arches.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Four reference models of partially edentulous mandibles with implants (RM1, RM2, RM3, and RM4) representing different intraoral situations were each scanned 10 times by an intraoral scanner. Reference scans were obtained by a laboratory scanner. Test scans were compared with reference scans to obtain the distance deviations (Δd) and angular deviations (Δθ) between scan bodies for trueness assessment. Differences among the repeated test scans of each model were measured and recorded as Δdp and Δθp for precision assessment. The Student t test (α = .05) was used to compare Δd, Δθ, Δdp, and Δθp of different reference models, including RM2 vs RM1 (effect of non-free-end partial edentulism), RM3 vs RM1 (effect of implant angulation), and RM4 vs RM1 (effect of number of scan bodies).

RESULTS

The implant with 17-degree angulation in RM3 showed significantly lower Δd, Δθ, and Δθp compared with the parallel implant in RM1 (Δd: P = .0382, Δθ: P = .0267, Δθp: P = .0417). The RM2 of non-free-end partial edentulism had lower distance and angular deviations than RM1, but without a significant difference. The number of scan bodies had no significant effect on the Δd, Δθ, Δdp, and Δθp of RM4 and RM1.

CONCLUSION

Angulated implants showed better accuracy of digital impressions in partially edentulous arches compared with parallel implants. Non-free-end partial edentulism was attributed to improved accuracy, while the number of scan bodies showed no effect.

Accuracy of full-arch digital implant impressions taken using intraoral scanners and related variables: A systematic review

PURPOSE

To evaluate the accuracy of full-arch digital implant impressions taken using intraoral scanners and analyse the related variables.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

An electronic search of studies on the accuracy of digital implant impressions in fully edentulous arches from 1 January 2012 to 29 February 2020 was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. Only peer-reviewed experimental or clinical studies written in English were included. Studies assessing the accuracy of restorations, case reports, clinical reports, technical reports and reviews were excluded. The literature screening, article reading and assessment of risk of bias were carried out by two reviewers. The data on the study characteristics, accuracy outcomes and investigated variables were extracted.

RESULTS

After removal of duplicates, a total of 166 studies were identified, of which 42 were initially selected for full-text reading and 30 were included in the final analysis (29 in vitro studies and one in vivo study). The trueness of digital implant impressions ranged from 7.6 to 731.7 μm, and the precision ranged from 15.2 to 204.2 μm. Angular deviations were between 0.13 and 10.01 degrees. Considering 100 μm and 0.4 degrees as clinically acceptable levels of deviation, 18 studies reported linear/distance/3D deviations larger than 100 μm and only two studies reported angular deviations below 0.4 degrees. The effect of interimplant distance/length of the arch scanned/scanning sequence/scanning range/implant position (nine studies), implant angulation (ten studies), implant depth (five studies), implant connection (two studies), operator experience (six studies), scan body type (three studies), intraoral scanner type (six studies), scanning strategy (two studies) and modification technique (three studies) was investigated.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of the included studies, full-arch digital implant impressions taken using intraoral scanners are not sufficiently accurate for clinical application. Accuracy varies greatly with interimplant distance, scan body type, intraoral scanner type and operator experience, whereas implant angulation, implant connections and implant depth have no effect. The effects of scanning strategy and modification technique need further investigation.

Bovine-Derived Xenografts Immobilized With Cryopreserved Stem Cells From Human Adipose and Dental Pulp Tissues Promote Bone Regeneration: A Radiographic and Histological Study

Adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs) and dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) have become promising sources for bone tissue engineering. Our study aimed at evaluating bone regeneration potential of cryopreserved ADSCs and DPSCs combined with bovine-derived xenografts with 10% porcine collagen. In vitro studies revealed that although DPSCs had higher proliferative abilities, ADSCs exhibited greater mineral depositions and higher osteogenic-related gene expression, indicating better osteogenic differentiation potential of ADSCs. After applying cryopreserved ADSCs and DPSCs in a critical-sized calvarial defect model, both cryopreserved mesenchymal stem cells significantly improved bone volume density and new bone area at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. Furthermore, the combined treatment with ADSCs and xenografts was more efficient in enhancing bone repair processes compared to combined treatment with DPCSs at all-time points. We also evaluated the sequential early bone healing process both histologically and radiographically, confirming a high agreement between these two methods. Based on these results, we propose grafting of the tissue-engineered construct seeded with cryopreserved ADSCs as a useful strategy in accelerating bone healing processes.

Clinical, radiographic and economic evaluation of short-6-mm implants and longer implants combined with osteotome sinus floor elevation in moderately atrophic maxillae: A 3-year randomized clinical trial

AIM

To compare the 3-year clinical, radiographic and economic outcomes of short-6-mm implants and longer implants combined with osteotome sinus floor elevation (OSFE) in the posterior maxilla.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study enrolled 225 patients (225 implants with diameter of 4.1 mm and 4.8 mm) with a posterior maxillary residual bone height (RBH) of 6-8 mm. Patients were randomly divided into three groups: Group 1 (6 mm implants alone), Group 2 (8 mm implants + OSFE) and Group 3 (10 mm implants + OSFE). The following outcomes were recorded at 1 and 3-year examinations: implant survival, probing pocket depth (PPD), bleeding on probing (BOP), modified plaque index (mPI), marginal bone loss (MBL), biological and technical complications, complication-free survival and treatment costs.

RESULTS

At the 3-year follow-up, 199 patients (Group 1: 67; Group 2: 62; Group 3: 70) were re-examined. Implant survival rates were 91.80%, 97.08% and 100.00% in groups 1, 2 and 3. Implant survival rate in Group 1 was significantly lower than that in Group 3 (p = 0.029). A multivariate Cox model showed that the short-6-mm implants with wide diameter had a protective effect on implant survival (hazard ratio: 0.59, p = 0.001). No significant differences in BOP%, PPD, mPI, MBL and complication-free survival rate were found among the three groups. The average costs of retreatment were 8.31%, 1.96% and 0.56% of the total costs in groups 1, 2 and 3. The cost to avoid a 1% increase in implant loss associated with 6-mm implants over a 3-year period was 369 CNY (56 USD) using a 10-mm implant with OSFE and 484 CNY (74 USD) using an 8-mm implant with OSFE.

CONCLUSION

In the moderately atrophic posterior maxillae, the three treatments showed acceptable clinical, radiographic and economic outcomes with up to 3-year follow-up. 10-mm implants combined with OSFE showed more favourable implant survival and fewer maintenance costs in comparison with short-6-mm implants, which were less expensive.

The influence of initial defect morphology of alveolar ridge on volumetric change of grafted bone following guided bone regeneration in the anterior maxilla region: an exploratory retrospective study

Background

This study aimed to explore the influence of initial ridge defect morphology on the outcome of guided bone regeneration (GBR) in the anterior maxilla region.

Methods

Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) examinations of patients who participated in a previous randomized controlled trial were used to assess linear and volumetric changes of bone grafts (LCB and VCB) from immediately (T0) to 6 months (T1) after surgery. The three-dimensional (3D) surface rendering of the initial defect was reconstructed, and morphological variables were defined in mesial-distal, buccal-lingual, and coronal-apical directions. The Spearman correlation, logistic regression model, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses were used to assess the possible association between initial defect morphological variables and VCB.

Results

A total of 62 eligible patients were included in this study. The median value of LCB was less than 20% at different levels, while the corresponding value of VCB was 52.0%. The Spearman correlation analysis showed that the standard deviation of buccal-lingual distance (BL_SD) was negatively associated with VCB (r=-0.315, P=0.013), whereas the ratio of maximum coronal-apical/mesial-distal distance (R_mCA/mMD) was positively related to VCB (r=0.607, P<0.001). The multivariate regression analysis revealed that the prognosis effect of BLSD (OR: 0.220, 95% CI: 0.074 to 0.655, P=0.0047) and R_mCA/mMD (OR: 7.045, 95% CI: 2.361 to 21.024, P=0.0017) remained significant. ROC curve analysis showed that R_mCA/mMD could be used to correctly classify VCB in 78.9% patients and BLSD in 71.0% of patients, as classified by the median of VCB. The discrimination value of BLSD and R_mCA/mMD revealed the areas under curve (AUC) of 0.71 (95% CI: 0.545 to 0.883) and 0.74 (95% CI: 0.573 to 0.913), respectively.

Conclusions

Within the limitations of this study, the present data confirmed the effect of initial ridge morphology on the GBR outcome in the anterior maxilla region. Specifically, a defect morphology with more BLSD and/or lower R_mCA/mMD may significantly decrease the resorption amount of grafted bone.

Long-term outcomes of osteotome sinus floor elevation without grafting in severely atrophic maxilla: A 10-year prospective study

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present study was to report 10-year results of osteotome sinus floor elevation (OSFE) without grafting severely atrophic maxilla (residual bone height ≤4 mm).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients undergoing OSFE without grafting and implant placement were included for 10-year examinations. Implant survival, complication-free survival, modified bleeding index (mBI), modified plaque index (mPI), pocket probing depth (PPD), peri-implant marginal bone loss (MBL), endo-sinus bone gain (ESBG) and mean cost of recurrence were evaluated.

RESULTS

Overall, 23 patients with 35 implants attended 10-year examination. Cemented implant crowns or implant-supported fixed dental prostheses were delivered to the patients. Kaplan-Meier implant survival was 89.2% at implant level and 84.1% at patient level. Complication-free survival was 26.0% at patient level and 37.0% at implant level. The average complication-free survival time was 74.6 months (95% CI: 63.2-86.0 months) at implant level and 69.1 months (95% CI: 54.8-83.4 months) at patient level. The mBI, mPI, PPD, MBL and ESBG at 10-year follow-up were 0.91 ± 0.58, 0.48 ± 0.51, 2.94 ± 0.79 mm, 1.63 ± 0.83 mm and 2.72 ± 0.51 mm, respectively. The cost of managing recurrence was 43.6% of the initial cost of treatment.

CONCLUSION

The results of the present study indicate that OSFE without grafting is a reliable treatment option in severely atrophic maxilla. Acceptable survival rate, stable MBL and ESBG could be achieved within 10 years. Low complication-free survival and high costs of recurrence management need to be considered.

Long-term outcomes of osteotome sinus floor elevation with or without bone grafting: The 10-year results of a randomized controlled trial

AIMS

To assess the long-term clinical and radiographic results of implants placed using osteotome sinus floor elevation (OSFE) with or without bone grafting.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Forty-five patients were randomly assigned into two groups: Group 1 (OSFE with deproteinized bovine bone mineral) and Group 2 (OSFE without grafting). The patients were recalled at 1, 3, 5 and 10 years after surgery. The implant survival, endo-sinus bone gain (ESBG), marginal bone loss (MBL), peri-implant bone height (PBH, distance from the most coronal level to the most apical level of bone-to-implant contact), prosthesis survival and hardware complications, and peri-implant soft tissue conditions were assessed.

RESULTS

Forty patients attended the 10-year examination. Mean residual bone height was 4.58 ± 1.28 mm. The 10-year cumulative survival rate was 90.7% for Group 1 and 95.0% for Group 2. The PBH was 5.89 ± 1.24 mm for Group 1 and 5.74 ± 1.43 mm for Group 2 at 10 years. The ESBG of both groups remained stable after 3 years. Two-thirds of the implants were free of hardware complications. No significant differences in MBL and peri-implant tissue parameters were found.

CONCLUSION

OSFE with or without grafting both yielded predictable clinical outcomes with similar PBH (ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT01619956).

The responses of human gingival fibroblasts to magnesium-doped titanium

The titanium (Ti) implant is widely used in implant dentistry; yet peri-implantitis has always been one of the most common and serious complications. Here, we demonstrated that magnesium-doping would be an effective way of enhancing the integration between implant surfaces and gingival tissues, which is critical to peri-implant health. The magnesium (2.76-6.35 at %) was immobilized onto the titanium substrate by a magnesium plasma immersion ion implantation (Mg-PIII) technique. Mg-PIII treatments did not alter surface topographies of the original titanium substrate but improved its hydrophilicity. The in vitro study including cell viability, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and real-time polymerase chain reaction assays disclosed improved adhesion, proliferation, migration, and extracellular matrix remodeling abilities of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) on the magnesium-doped titanium. The results of western blot suggested that the Mg-modified titanium induced the phosphorylation of AKT through the activation of PI3K. Our results revealed that magnesium-doping would potentially enhance soft tissue sealings by promoting cellular functions of HGFs in a dose-dependent manner, boding well for its applications on surfaces of implant necks in early peri-implant soft tissue integrations.

A novel semiautomatic segmentation protocol to evaluate guided bone regeneration outcomes: A pilot randomized, controlled clinical trial

OBJECTIVES

The aims of this study were to (a) present a novel morphological contour interpolation (MCI) algorithm based method to evaluate grafted bone alterations following guided bone regeneration (GBR), (b) compare clinical and radiological outcomes of GBR with two different collagen membranes.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The data were retrieved from an ongoing randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomly allocated into two groups: (a) control group (CG): Bio-Gide (b) test group (TG): bovine dermis-derived collagen membrane. Cone beam computed tomography examinations were performed 1 week (T0) and 6 months after surgery (T1). PES/WES at T1, grafted bone volume and density changes from T0 to T1 were recorded.

RESULTS

Thirty-six patients (16/20 in test/control group, respectively) were enrolled in the present study. Excellent inter-observer reliability (ICC ≥ 0.97) was revealed for repeated measurements using this method. Significant volumetric reduction of grafted bone were found in both groups (test group: from 0.60 to 0.39 cm³ , p < 0.01; control group: from 0.54 to 0.31 cm³ , p < 0.01). Mean bone density (gray-scale values) significantly increased from 305.12 to 456.69 in CG (p < 0.01). In TG, it slightly increased from 304.75 to 393.27 (p = 0.25). The mean PES/WES values were 13.84 (6.62/7.22) and 13.90 (6.70/7.20) for TG and CG, respectively. As for inter-group comparison, no significant differences of grafted bone volume change, density change and PES/WES were found between two groups.

CONCLUSION

Within the limitations of this study, the novel MCI-based method is a reproducible tool to segment and visualize changes of grafted bone in 3D. Furthermore, both collagen membranes could be used as a barrier membrane for GBR in humans.

Long-term outcomes of narrow diameter implants in posterior jaws: A retrospective study with at least 8-year follow-up

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term survival, complications, peri-implant conditions, marginal bone loss, and patient satisfaction of fixed dental prostheses supported by narrow diameter implants (NDIs) in the posterior jaws.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study was designed as a retrospective cohort study with a mean follow-up time of 10.1 years (SD: 2.5 years). Patients receiving NDIs in posterior jaw were reviewed. Implant survival, hardware complication, modified plaque index (mPI), peri-implant probing depth (PPD), percentage of bleeding on probing (BOP%), marginal bone loss (MBL), and patient satisfaction were evaluated. Log-rank test and t test were used to detect the influence of implant location and restoration type.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven patients with 98 NDIs (Premolar site: 81, Molar site: 17, Single crowns: 33, Splinted restorations: 65) were included. The overall implant survival rates were 96.9% at implant level and 97.0% at patient level. Veneer chipping was the most common hardware complication. The veneer chipping rates were 19.4% at patient level and 18.4% at implant level. All patients showed acceptable oral hygiene. Thus, the average MBL was 1.19 mm at implant level and 1.15 mm at patient level. Eight implants (8.5%) and six patients (9.2%) were diagnosed with peri-implantitis. Fifty-eight patients (89.2%) were satisfied with the esthetics of the restorations, while 55 patients (84.6%) were satisfied with the function of the restorations.

CONCLUSION

Narrow diameter implants could be a predictable treatment option in the long term. High survival rates, high patient satisfaction, acceptable complication rates and marginal bone loss could be achieved. Further long-term studies are needed to evaluate the predictability of NDIs in molar sites.

Clinical evaluation of short 6-mm implants alone, short 8-mm implants combined with osteotome sinus floor elevation and standard 10-mm implants combined with osteotome sinus floor elevation in posterior maxillae: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background

Nowadays, short dental implants are being increasingly applied in extremely resorbed posterior regions. The recent studies have indicated that short implants present a similar success rate to conventional implants. It is assumed that short implants can avoid additional surgical morbidity and are less technically demanding. However, high-quality evidence (≥Ib: evidence from at least one randomized controlled trial) on comparing the clinical outcome of short implants and longer implants combined with osteotome sinus floor elevation (OSFE) technique is limited.

Methods/Design

The proposed study is designed as a prospective single-center, three-arm parallel group, randomized controlled trial. We plan to enroll 150 patients in need of dental implant treatment in the posterior maxilla. The inclusion criteria include: age ≧18 years, partial edentulism in the posterior maxilla for at least 3 months from tooth loss, residual bone height ranging from 6 to 8 mm, sufficient bone width (≥6 mm) in the edentulous region. The patients will be divided into three groups according to a table of random numbers: group 1: short implants (6 mm) alone; group 2: short implants (8 mm) combined with osteotome sinus floor elevation (OSFE); group 3: standard implants (10 mm) combined with OSFE. The assignment will be concealed from the clinical operators until the beginning of implant surgery. The outcome examiners and patients will be kept blinded to the assignment. Implant survival rates, implant success rates, complications, resonance frequency analysis (RFA) measurements, marginal bone level, treatment time and patient-reported outcome (visual analogue scale for intraoperative discomfort and postoperative pain) will be recorded. Clinical re-evaluations will be performed at 12, 24, 36 and 60 months after crown placement.

Discussion

The results of the trial will support better decision-making for dental implant treatment in atrophic maxillary ridges. If favorable, the use of short implants may avoid adjunct procedures used for implant insertion, thus reducing operative time, complexity and postoperative discomfort.

Trial registration

Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT02350075 (registered on 17 February 2015).

Osteotome sinus floor elevation with and without grafting: an animal study in Labrador dogs

AIM

To evaluate implant stability and histological outcomes after osteotome sinus floor elevation (OSFE) procedure, and to compare new bone formation and implant osseointegration with and without grafting.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

OSFE with simultaneous implant placement was conducted bilaterally on 6 Labrador dogs. Twenty-four implants were placed. The right side sinus (Group 1) was grafted with biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP), whereas the left side (Group 2) was left without any grafting materials. The animals were euthanized 8 and 24 weeks after surgery for histological and histomorphometric assessment. Bone-to-implant contact (BIC%), alveolar bone height (ABH), bone density (BD) and grafting material density (GMD) were measured. The implant stability (ISQ) was assessed using resonance frequency analysis (RFA) at implant placement and 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24 weeks after surgery.

RESULTS

Endo-sinus new bone with direct contact to implant surface were observed in two groups at both time points. ABH showed no difference between groups at both time points. BIC% and BD in Group 2 (40.05%, 35.90%) was higher than those in Group 1 (23.30%,25.59%) at 24 weeks. Significant shrinkage of grafting material was seen in Group 1. The GMD in Group 1 at 8 weeks was 24.35%, while it dropped to 19.90% at 24 weeks. The changing pattern of ISQ for both groups were similar.

CONCLUSIONS

Spontaneous new bone formation and better bone-to-implant contact were found for OSFE without grafting. The grafting material application during OSFE procedure showed no advantages in histological results.