REHABILITATION OF PATIENTS WITH SEVERELY RESORBED MAXILLAE BY MEANS OF IMPLANTS WITH OR WITHOUT BONE-GRAFTS - A 1-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY

Forty-three patients with severely resorbed maxillae who had been refe rred for implant treatment were assigned to one of three treatment gro ups: bone grafting and implant placement (graft group); modified impla nt placement but no bone grafting (trial group); or optimized complete dentures (no-implant group). Sixteen, 20, and 7 patients, respectivel y, were assigned to the three groups. At the 1-year follow-up, 10% of the implants had been lost. Only a few of the failures (3/22) occurred after prosthesis placement. The cumulative success rates were 83% in the graft group and 96% in the trial group. A substantial reduction of the grafted bone, especially of the onlay grafts, occurred in many pa tients. During the period from prosthesis connection to the 1-year fol low-up, marginal peri-implant bone loss was on average 0.5 mm. Despite the often demanding procedures involved, all but one patient in each implant group said that they would undergo the treatment again. Most p atients were very satisfied with the treatment outcome and their impro ved masticatory ability. Those who had renounced implant treatment app eared modestly adapted to their optimized dentures, but reported reten tion problems and less satisfaction with mastication.