Computer Planning and Bone Density Evaluation of Jaws Reconstructed With Bone Grafts From Living Donors

Bone augmentation to reconstruct atrophic jaws provides the base for sufficient functional and aesthetic implant-supported oral rehabilitation. Although autografts are the standard procedure for bone grafting, the use of homolog bone provides a reasonable alternative because it is safe, cheap, and available in adequate amount. Five patients were grafted with femur bone derived from living donors, and in 2 of them, 16 implants were inserted after 6 months. Pearson chi(2) test was used to investigate the difference in bone density (BD) between native and grafted bone and between peri-implant and bone far from fixtures. The BD of the grafted bone is about double that of the native bone. Peri-implant BD is higher than BD far from fixtures, demonstrating that implant loading increase BD. Computed tomography is a valuable and accurate preoperative and follow-up method to obtain information about bone quality and quantity (ie, volume of available bone). Femur graft has a high density that improves under loading, thus suggesting that early implant loading should be performed whenever possible. However, a larger implant series and a longer observation period are mandatory to have a stronger support to these preliminary data.