Bone grafting for alveolar ridge reconstruction

Objective: to investigate the predictive factors of failure in bone grafts for alveolar ridge augmentation and implant surgery. Methods: we reviewed the charts of 166 patients operated between 1995 and 2014. A total of 248 grafting procedures were performed. We submitted the data to the binomial test at 5% significance. Results: grafts to gain width of the alveolar ridge (65.32%) were more frequent than sinus lifting (p<0.0001) and the number of grafts to the posterior maxilla (48.8%) was greater than in other regions (p<0.01); 6.04% of the grafts were lost. The losses in anterior (p<0.0309) and posterior (p<0.0132) maxilla were higher than in the mandible. There were 269 implants installed in the grafted areas, of which only 4.83% were lost. The number of implants lost (4.51%) in areas of onlay grafts was not statistically higher than those placed after sinus lifting (2.63%, p<0.2424). Losses were greater in the anterior (53.85%) and posterior (38.46%) maxilla than in the mandible (p<0.031). Regarding patients’ age, 76.92% of the lost grafts (p<0.006) and 80% of the lost implants (p<0.001) were installed in patients over 40 years. Conclusion: failure rate was higher both for grafts and dental implants in the maxilla and in patients over 40 years of age.