title: Computer planning and bone density evaluation of jaws reconstructed with bone grafts from living donors.
abstract: Bone augmentation to reconstruct atrophic jaws provides the base for sufficient functional and aesthetic implant-supported oral rehabilitation. Although autografts are the standard procedure for bone grafting, the use of homolog bone provides a reasonable alternative because it is safe, cheap, and available in adequate amount. Five patients were grafted with femur bone derived from living donors, and in 2 of them, 16 implants were inserted after 6 months. Pearson χ test was used to investigate the difference in bone density (BD) between native and grafted bone and between peri-implant and bone far from fixtures. The BD of the grafted bone is about double that of the native bone. Peri-implant BD is higher than BD far from fixtures, demonstrating that implant loading increase BD. Computed tomography is a valuable and accurate preoperative and follow-up method to obtain information about bone quality and quantity (ie, volume of available bone). Femur graft has a high density that improves under loading, thus suggesting that early implant loading should be performed whenever possible. However, a larger implant series and a longer observation period are mandatory to have a stronger support to these preliminary data.
authors.affiliation: Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Galeazzi Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grecchi
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zollino
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gallo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rubino
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Motroni
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Carinci
mesh_terms: D000540:Alveolar Ridge Augmentation / Q000379:methods*; D001284:Atrophy; D015519:Bone Density; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000637:transplantation*; D006801:Humans; D019520:Living Donors; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome