Elevación de seno maxilar: Análisis clínico de nuestra experiencia en más de 100 casos

purpose: maxillary sinus elevation surgery is one of the most versatile surgical procedures in maxillofacial surgery: there are various approaches to the sinus, different materials for sinus grafting, other preprosthetic procedures can be associated and the implants placement can be simultaneous or delayed, depending on the initial bone height. the aim of this study was to demonstrate this versatility by means of reporting the clinical outcome of sinus augmentation surgery in 131 cases. materials and methods: 131 sinus augmentation procedures were undertaken on 91 consecutive patients (mean age 50,43 years (26-69)). the preoperative and postoperative radiological study was developed by means of orthopantomography and dental-tc. the survival rate of implants, as measured by integration and succesfull loading, was compared between different graft materials, smoking/non-smoking patients, different groups of associated pathologies and simultaneous/delayed implants placement. the time (months) necessary for prosthesis loading was measured and compared between the different graft material groups. results: 228 screw-type implants were placed in sinus lifted regions. the mean residual ridge height was 6,59±2,11 mm. the mean postsurgical ridge height was 14,57±2,33 mm. after a mean follow-up period of 2,94 years (range 1 to 12 years) the global implant survival rate was 96,91%. there were not significant differences between different bone grafts, associated comorbidity and smoking habits. conclusions: on the basis of this retrospective study, it might be concluded that the sinus augmentation surgery is a very versatile procedure. its efficacy and predictability in terms of implant survival rate is extremely high and independent on the bone graft material, surgical technique, associated morbility, smoking habit and immediate/delayed implant placement. the use of autologous bone requires less time to load the prosthesis.