title: Long-term outcomes of bone augmentation on soft and hard-tissue stability: a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Peri-implant hard-tissue augmentation is a widely used clinical procedure.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present review aimed to analyse the current literature regarding medium- and long-term data concerning the stability of peri-implant tissues after hard-tissue augmentation prior or immediately with implant placement.
  
  
  METHODS
  An electronic literature search was performed using Medline (PubMed) databases detecting clinical studies focusing on hard- and soft-tissue stability around dental implants placed either in augmented alveolar ridges or simultaneously with peri-implant bone grafting. The search was limited to articles published between 1995 and December 2014, focusing on clinical studies with a prospective study design assessing peri-implant bone and soft tissue stability over time with a minimum follow-up of 12 months. Recent publications were also searched manually to find any relevant studies that might have been missed using the search criteria noted above.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-seven articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in this systematic review. Since the outcome measures and methods, as well as types of grafts and implants used were so heterogeneous, the performance of meta-analysis was impossible. The highest level of evidence was achieved by randomized clinical trials.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Different hard-tissue augmentation procedures seem to show stable peri-implant tissues, although, up to now, long-term stability of the augmented buccal bone is assessed by only few studies. Further research should concentrate on combining three-dimensional radiographic data with non-invasive methods as digital surface measuring techniques or ultrasound evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0199-9437
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Friedrich W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Neukam
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, Dental School, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simion
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Schmitt
mesh_terms: D000540:Alveolar Ridge Augmentation / Q000379:methods*; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D015921:Dental Implants; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D016557:Guided Tissue Regeneration, Periodontal / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D020390:Tooth Socket / Q000601:surgery
chemical_list: D018786:Bone Substitutes; D015921:Dental Implants
keywords: CT imaging; bone regeneration; clinical research; clinical trials; guided tissue regeneration