Objectives: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the vertical bone gain achieved after the sinus lift procedure with beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) used as a bone substitute and simultaneous implant placement.
Methods: One hundred and twenty-eight sinus lift procedures (utilizing a synthetic ceramic containing 99.9% tricalcium phosphate as a bone substitute) and simultaneous implant placements were performed on 119 patients. The lateral window approach surgical protocol for maxillary sinus lift was performed on the patients. The implants were evaluated using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) at 6 months following placement. The vertical bone gain was considered a primary variable, while implant length, diameter, and location were considered secondary variables.
Results: The ANOVA results showed no statistical difference in vertical bone gain with implant parameters like implant length, width, and position. Pearsons correlation revealed a statistically significant positive correlation with vertical bone gain and implant length and diameter. A further multivariate linear regression analysis was performed and it observed statistically significant associations between the variables in the study after adjusting for confounding factors.
Conclusions: This study concluded that there was vertical bone gain with the usage of β-TCP in maxillary sinus lift surgical procedure with immediate implant placement and that implant variables like length and diameter had a significant influence on the average bone gain values. The implant position did not have a statistically significant influence but there was considerable variation in the bone gain between first, second premolar, and molar regions.
Keywords: beta-tricalcium phosphate; bone regeneration; dental implant; maxillary sinus lift; vertical bone gain.