Purpose: Pneumatized sinuses in the posterior maxilla often make implant placement difficult or impossible. A sinus lifting procedure can reliably augment the bone height, with the highest success rates reported when two-stage implants are placed 6 to 9 months later. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical reliability of a shortened approach in which nonsubmerged implants were placed at the time of sinus augmentation.
Materials and methods: All patients treated with sinus floor elevation and simultaneous implant placement at the authors' institution from 1999 to 2004 were retrospectively selected for a long-term follow-up study. Sinus elevation was considered when the remaining subantral bone height did not reach 6 mm in one or more implant sites. The lateral window technique was performed using bovine hydroxyapatite as a filler, and nonsubmerged implants were placed immediately. Implant and prosthodontic survival rates, as well as biologic and prosthodontic complications, were evaluated 2 to 6 years after loading.
Results: In a sample of 40 patients, 50 subantral bone augmentations were performed and 102 implants were placed using the one-stage approach. One implant remained submerged because of a lack of primary stability. No sinusitis was noted. Only two implants were lost before loading. No implants failed after the definitive restorations were placed, leading to a 98% implant survival rate and 100% prosthodontic survival rate after 2 to 6 years.
Conclusions: Subantral bone regeneration with bovine hydroxyapatite as a space filler is an effective and safe procedure allowing high survival rates of implants placed in the posterior maxilla. If the remaining bone is sufficient to ensure primary stability, implant placement can be performed simultaneously with sinus lifting, and even in a nonsubmerged fashion.