Purpose: The present study was undertaken to retrospectively evaluate the status of implants in patients subjected to a maxillary sinus lift and immediate implant placement without bone grafting.
Patients and methods: Seventy-five implants were placed in 47 patients from 2000 to 2006. Lateral approach for the trap-door, open-window method for sinus lifting without placement of either autogenous bone grafts or allogeneic bone substitute was carried out. A 5-mm of the bone level was required in the alveolar ridge for all. All implants were placed synchronously with sinus lifting procedure. Patients underwent strict oral hygiene instruction, periodontal charting, presurgical/postsurgical panoramic radiographs, and postsurgical computed tomographic scan during the follow-up. The implant survival was defined when the prosthesis had been delivered and followed for 2 years without infection, pain, or more than 2-mm peri-implant bone loss.
Results: Thirty-three patients (23 males, 10 females) having an average age of 55 years old, with a total of 47 fixtures were followed for more than 2 years after prosthesis delivery. No patients developed sinusitis or other complications leading to loss of an implant subsequent to performance of the sinus lifting-combined immediate implant surgery. The 2-year survival of fixture was 100%. Increases in lifted sinus bone height ranged from 3 mm to 9 mm with an average of 4.5 mm. The peri-implant health was judged to be good with a peri-implant sulcus depth of 2.7 +/- 0.5 mm at 2-year follow-up.
Conclusions: A good survival rate was observed in the immediate implant placement synchronously with the lateral approach for maxillary sinus lift without bone grafting.