Comparison of bone grafts for alveolar ridge dimensional preservation

Abstract

Introduction: Alveolar bone remodeling after tooth extraction has been long considered unavoidable. Ridge resorption is greatest within 6 months. Bone dimensional changes complicate tooth replacement therapy. Recently, the use of biomaterials for ridge preservation has been researched thoroughly. The main question is whether there are any benefits of bone grafting to the extraction socket. Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the effect that socket filling with a bone graft has on alveolar ridge volume loss as compared with tooth extraction alone. Materials and methods: A database search was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. We searched for studies published between 01.10.2012 and 01.10.2017. Results: Five studies investigated alveolar ridge bucco-oral dimension preservation using xenograft. Overall, the interventions with this graft were more beneficial in terms of width maintenance than tooth extraction alone. Four articles analyzed socket bucco-oral dimension maintenance using synthetic alloplast. The results were inconclusive, as 3 studies reported greater width and one article described a greater bone width in the control group. Four studies investigated the preservation of alveolar bone height after socket preservation. In the bovine derived xenograft subgroup, the effect of ridge height was greater than extraction alone. Two studies researched ridge height preservation after extraction using synthetic alloplast. The results were in favor of the test group, but were statistically insignificant. Conclusions: Alveolar ridge preservation using xenograft shows greater dimensional preservation than no graft. The results for the alloplast group were inconclusive. More and less heterogeneous studies are needed to compare these materials.