Purpose: The aim of this work was to compare histologically bone biopsies obtained during dental implant placement in atrophic jaws reconstructed with fresh-frozen bone (FFB) or autologous bone blocks.
Materials and methods: Twenty partially or totally edentulous patients were treated either with iliac crest FFB grafts (14 patients; group A) or with iliac crest autografts (6 patients; group B). Seven to 9 months later, dental implants were placed in the reconstructed jaws and bone biopsies were harvested.
Results: The reconstructive procedure was uneventful in 9 patients of group A and in all patients of group B. Samples from both groups did not show relevant differences concerning the proportion of lamellar bone, newly formed bone, and bone marrow. In group A, the decreasing proportion of blood vessels from the apical to the coronal portion, the larger amount of lacunae in the apical portion, and the fewer vessels in the coronal portion than in group B evoke an effort of the host bone to "integrate" the graft from the apical portion.
Conclusions: FFB cannot be considered as successful and safe in alveolar bone reconstruction as autogenous bone grafting.