Maxillary sinus lift using osteoinductive simvastatin combined with β-TCP versus β-TCP - a comparative pilot study to evaluate simvastatin enhanced and accelerated bone formation

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate available bone quality and quantity after performing sinus augmentation using simvastatin/beta-TCP combination versus beta-TCP alone. Materials and methods: This study included eight sinus lift procedures conducted on six patients. The sinuses were divided into two equal groups. The patients were recalled one, two weeks two, five, nine months post-operatively for post-operative evaluation. Radiographic evaluation involved cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) radiographs taken for every patient one week and nine months postoperatively to evaluate the changes in bone height, while histomorphometric evaluation involved transcortical bone biopsies taken after nine months during the second-stage surgery for implant placement. Results: The histomorphometric results showed that the amount of newly formed bone was higher in the simvastatin group when compared to the beta-TCP group nine months after the surgery; the difference between the two groups was statistically significant. On the other hand, the radiographic evaluation showed that the rate of resorption of the simvastatin group was found to be higher than the control group; however, the difference between both groups was statistically insignificant. Conclusion: These results showed that Simvastatin is safe to be used in sinus lift with promising osteoinductive capacity, yet further studies using larger sample size is needed.