Trial design: This analysis compared the outcome of fresh-frozen versus autologous bone block grafts for horizontal ridge augmentation in patients with Cawood and Howell class IV atrophies.
Methods: Seventeen patients received autologous grafts and 21 patients received fresh-frozen bone grafts. Patients underwent CT scans 1 week and 6 months after surgery for graft volume and density analysis.
Results: Two autologous and 3 fresh-frozen grafts failed. Autologous and fresh-frozen grafts lost, respectively, 28% and 46% of their initial volume (P = 0.028). It is noteworthy that less dense fresh-frozen blocks lost more volume than denser grafts (61% versus 16%).
Conclusions: According to these 6-month results, only denser fresh-frozen bone graft may be an acceptable alternative to autologous bone for horizontal ridge augmentation. Further studies are needed to investigate its behaviour at longer time points.