Lateral alveolar ridge augmentation procedure using subperiosteal tunneling technique: a pilot study

Atrophic alveolar ridges may impede the proper placement of dental implants in their appropriate positioning necessary to guarantee their long-term function and an acceptable esthetic profile of the final prosthesis [1, 2]. The use of autogenous bone for the reconstruction and augmentation of such ridges to facilitate implant rehabilitation has traditionally been the gold standard in this area [3]. However, use of autogenous bone carries the obvious drawbacks of additional donor site surgery and its attendant sequelae and the resultant reduced patient acceptance. The last few decades have seen a proliferation of research into bone graft substitutes to autogenous bone. Several materials have been described and promoted as alternatives to the autogenous bone harvest [4].

Calcium phosphates have been amongst the earliest of the potential bone graft substitute materials to be identified, based upon their similarity to the chemical structure of the inorganic components of native bone [5] which is largely composed of crystalline hydroxyapatite form of calcium phosphate. Currently, the most widely used forms of synthetic calcium phosphate are the resorbable β-tricalcium phosphates (β-TCP), the virtually non-resorbing crystalline hydroxyapatite (HA), and a combination of the two phases called biphasic calcium phosphates (BCP, a compound of β-tricalcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite).

Calcium phosphate materials are osteoconductive in nature and act to guide bone formation towards the center of the graft. While the β-tricalcium phosphate resorbs completely and is replaced with new bone, hydroxyapatite remains unresorbed but integrates into newly forming host bone [4, 6–8].

GUIDOR easy-graft CRYSTAL (Sunstar Suisse SA, Etoy, Switzerland) is a biphasic synthetic, in situ hardening bone graft substitute composed of 60% HA and 40% β-TCP [9]. The presence of HA causes the material to persist after new bone formation, integrating into the newly formed bone, while facilitating volume maintenance during initial healing. The material is directly applied from an applicator syringe, it is moldable, and, upon contact with blood, i.e. after application into the bone defect, hardens into a porous, stable scaffold. This in situ hardening property is particularly well suited to subperiosteal augmentation techniques. It allows this material to be readily inserted into the defect through the syringe and further molded and modeled into the desired shape through the gingiva during a short period after application before harden. The hardened scaffold remains stable during the early phases of healing [10].

Restoration of bone volume in patients with atrophic ridges is a prerequisite to esthetic and functional implant-supported prosthetic rehabilitation [11]. Several techniques to achieve enhanced bone volume have been described, including ridge splitting, alveolar distraction osteogenesis, guided bone regeneration (GBR) techniques, cortico-cancellous block onlay, and interpositional grafts, etc. [12–16]. Onlay grafting seems to be the most predictable of these techniques. However, in addition to the invasiveness of some of these techniques, there are also the complications of partial or complete graft loss on account of postoperative wound dehiscence and graft exposure, especially with onlay graft techniques and later graft resorption during the consolidation phase of the cortico-cancellous block grafts [17].

The risk of bone exposure and loss is increased with the use of crestal full thickness incisions for surgical access; implants which were placed without flap elevation showed significantly greater amount of osseointegration and the bone height around the implants as compared to the implants placed with flap elevation [18]. Flap management for block grafting necessitates surgical wound closure directly over the bone graft. Hence, any wound or suture dehiscence at the wound margins of the crestal incision immediately results in exposure of the graft, increasing the possibility of contamination and failure. Recent reports have suggested a modification of the surgical approach to minimize the risk of graft exposure as a complication of onlay bone grafting [18]. The subperiosteal augmentation techniques involve placement of vertical incisions some distance away from the actual site of bone graft placement. The augmentation site is approached through the creation of a subperiosteal tunnel. This allows the graft material to be placed under intact mucoperiosteal tissue, thereby minimizing the risk of exposure of the graft on account of wound dehiscences.

In the present report, we present a series of 9 patients with a total of 10 lateral augmentation of deficient alveolar ridges using graft material applied through the subperiosteal tunneling approach. To our knowledge, this is the first systematic report investigating the effectiveness of this graft to augment atrophic alveolar ridges in combination with the subperiosteal tunneling technique.

A total of 9 patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study, and a total 10 ridge augmentations were performed using the subperiosteal tunneling technique with an alloplastic in situ hardening bone graft substitute. One patient underwent a bilateral procedure. There were 5 males and 4 females, in an age range between 49 and 78 years (median age 55 years). Wound healing was assessed qualitatively in terms of postoperative pain, swelling, hematoma formation, incidence of wound dehiscence, and graft loss. The surgical sites healed uneventfully, without any intra-operative or postoperative complications in any of the patients. All patients who received bone augmentation eventually had dental implants placed in the grafted areas.

The use of bone augmentation prior to dental implant placement should facilitate the formation of good quality bone with minimal loss of bone volume during healing [3]. The ideal technique of bone augmentation should maintain the space during the period of bone ingrowth and implant healing and provide a stable augmentation of the bone. The ideal graft material, moreover, should integrate into native bone, be readily available, and be easy to place with minimal patient morbidity. The usual lateral augmentation techniques with autogenous block grafts require the elevation of extensive, full thickness mucoperiosteal flaps. The risk of wound dehiscence with resultant loss of augmentation volume is a major risk associated with these procedures [10].

The graft material being a biphasic calcium phosphate allows the maintenance of augmentation volume during the consolidation phase but supports the ingrowth of native bone. Also, its moldability and in situ hardening characteristic facilitates its easy placement at the site and provides stability during the critical early healing phase [9]. Control of the surgically expanded soft tissue volume is believed to prevent resorption of graft material over the long term [19, 20].

Block and Degen [17] used the tunneling technique for lateral augmentation in 13 posterior mandibular ridges, using human mineralized particulate bone and followed it up with placement of 35 implants in the grafted sites. They reported an estimated 5 to 8 mm lateral ridge augmentation immediate postoperatively and a subjective maintenance of at least 50% of the augmentation 3 months later. However, no objective, definitive measurements were made in their study. In our investigation for reconstruction of posterior mandibular horizontal defects using a “tunneling technique,” a mean crestal ridge width gain of 4.39 mm was achieved based on radiological CBCT measurements. Hasson [18] reported the use of subperiosteal tunnel technique for augmentation of the maxilla and the mandible. However, no comparative measurements were reported. Kfir et al. [21] used the tunnel technique for guided bone regeneration and reported a vertical gain between 2.4 and 5.1 mm and a ridge width gain of 1.3 to 3.9 mm.

Jeong et al. [16] studied simultaneous flapless implant placement and peri-implant bone grafting through subperiosteal tunneling, an animal study using mongrel dogs, and found significantly better new bone coverage on the exposed threads than the control group, indicating utility of the technique in conjunction with implant placement as well.

In terms of complications, Block and Degen [17] noted small wound dehiscences with graft loss adjacent to the incision in four ridges. This resulted in the ridge being too narrow in the site immediately adjacent to the most anterior tooth, necessitating cantilevered restorations. The same limitation to the procedure was also noted by Hasson [18]. The latter also remarked that it is a partly blind procedure which does not allow visualization of the deficient ridge. Also, the procedure might involve a slightly longer learning curve, with the need for careful and delicate surgical maneuvers and tissue handling.

Hasson [18] emphasized the benefit of decortication prior to graft insertion and the tenting effect produced using collagen membranes. Kfir et al. [21] also used a barrier membrane over the synthetic bone graft substitute and autologous fibrin. In our series of cases, no barrier membranes were used with the synthetic bone graft for achieving clinical success in correction of horizontal bone defects in the atrophic ridge. However, the volume of graft material used was higher than reported by other investigators who used grafts with a barrier membrane [18]. The use of barrier membranes for graft stabilization and space creation for augmentation has been challenged recently by many investigators [22, 23, 24, 25, 26]. Ridge augmentation with xenografts without membranes is also reported to correct both horizontal and vertical defects [23, 24, 27–29]. It is thought that a membrane may inhibit progenitor cell migration and angiogenesis by presenting a physical barrier to chemotaxis [24]. Nevins et al. [24] used three different graft combinations with the minimally invasive tunnel approach. Post healing trephine biopsies from the grafted area were analyzed by micro-CT analysis and with light microscopy. They showed a mean mineralized tissue fraction ranging from 34.6 ± 8.7% to 52.9 ± 12.9%. In our investigation, the histomorphometric analysis showed a mean mineralized fraction of 72.3% (two core biopsy samples from the same subject). New bone formation comprised 27.6% of the grafted area; 44.7% was residual graft material. The total mineralized fraction was 72.3% after 4 months. This is consistent with our earlier results using the same graft material for ridge preservation where 74.34% of mineralization was reported [26]. In a recently published study, Lee [30] used a similar subperiosteal tunneling technique for bone augmentation in 60 sites in 21 patients using anorganic bovine bone particles mixed with rhPDGF-BB and no tenting screws, space making devices, or cell-occlusive membranes. The authors also performed a histomorphometric analysis for 1 patient at 6 months after the bone augmentation procedure. The authors reported 50% bone formation, 47% bone marrow or fibrous tissue, 100% vital bone, and no residual bone graft material.

Within the limits of this study, it can be concluded that the subperiosteal tunneling technique in combination with an in situ hardening alloplastic bone graft substitute provides predictable lateral ridge augmentation for implant placement in atrophic ridges while reducing the invasiveness of the procedure.

The use of bone augmentation prior to dental implant placement should facilitate the formation of good quality bone with minimal loss of bone volume during healing [3]. The ideal technique of bone augmentation should maintain the space during the period of bone ingrowth and implant healing and provide a stable augmentation of the bone. From our present study, the tunneling technique for lateral bone augmentation seems to be a good approach to the procedure. It provides a predictable augmentation through a minimally invasive technique with minimal postoperative complications. Larger, controlled studies maybe designed to further assess the utility of our technique.