Aim: To comparatively evaluate the morbidity following maxillary sinus floor elevation according to either transcrestal (tSFE) or lateral (lSFE) approach with concomitant implant placement.
Materials & methods: Patients with ≥1 edentulous maxillary posterior site with residual bone height (RBH) of 3-6 mm were enrolled. tSFE was performed in association with a xenograft and a collagen matrix. For lSFE, the sinus was grafted with the xenograft, and the antrostomy was covered with a membrane. Implants were inserted concomitantly. The postoperative course was assessed through questionnaires. Pain level (VASpain ) was recorded using a 100-mm visual analogue scale.
Results: Twenty-nine and 28 patients were included in tSFE and lSFE group, respectively. On the day of surgery, VASpain was significantly higher for tSFE compared to lSFE, and similar from day 1 to 14. tSFE was characterized by significantly lower incidence of swelling, bruising and nasal discharge/bleeding. Significantly less severe limitation in swallowing, continuing daily activities, eating, speaking, opening the mouth and going to school/work was found for tSFE only at specific postsurgery intervals.
Conclusions: lSFE was associated with lower pain on the day of surgery, and tSFE revealed lower postoperative morbidity as well as more tolerable postoperative course.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02415946.
Keywords: alveolar process; bone regeneration; bone resorption; dental implants; maxillary sinus; minimally invasive; spiral cone-beam computed tomography; surgical procedures; tooth extraction.
© 2018 The Authors. Journal of Clinical Periodontology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.