Purpose: The aim of this paper is to present a large-scale long-term follow-up of dental implants placed simultaneously with nasal floor augmentation using osteoconductive bovine bone substitutes.
Materials and methods: Patients who received dental implants combined with nasal floor elevation in three dental centers between 2006 and 2012 were included in this report. Preoperative available bone height was measured on computed tomographic scans. Implant parameters as well as implant survival rates were recorded. The cohort consisted of long-term follow-up of this previously reported cohort, combined with a cohort of newly treated patients.
Results: Overall, 67 patients were included in this study. Cigarette smoking was reported by 16 patients. Two hundred three implants were inserted in combination with nasal floor elevation. No nasal mucosa perforations were observed. The mean follow-up periods were 65.93 ± 13.2 months (range, 33 to 86 months) for the original cohort and 23.14 ± 9.4 months (range, 7 to 44 months) for the newly treated patients. The available bone height prior to bone augmentation was 8.89 ± 1.1 mm (range, 5 to 11.2 mm) and a mean of 3.65 ± 0.9 mm (range, 1.1 to 7 mm) of additional height was achieved with nasal floor elevation. During the follow-up period, no implants were lost, resulting in a 100% survival rate.
Conclusion: Nasal floor augmentation, as shown in this report, might serve as a reliable method for reconstruction of the anterior atrophic maxilla when residual height is insufficient.