Purpose: This study reviews the clinical outcomes of ridge augmentations performed via horizontal- or vertical-guided bone regeneration (h-GBR, v-GBR) or edentulous ridge expansion.
Materials and methods: The degree of defect correction, the marginal bone level, and the horizontal stability of the augmented bone (five patients) were examined with a new proposed rigid resin survey template.
Results: Thirty ridge defects ranging from 1 to 8 mm were corrected, and 56 implants were positioned. The percentages of alveolar defect correction were 91.85% ± 22.30%, 97.13% ± 4.48%, and 90.42% ± 11.93% for h-GBR, edentulous ridge expansion, and v-GBR, respectively; a limited amount of marginal bone level was reported for all three groups, while a large amount of horizontal bone resorption was detected.
Conclusions: All surgical techniques considered in this study are predictable procedures, and the proposed survey template measurement system showed to be a reliable method of evaluating horizontal bone stability of the augmented ridges.