Hard and soft tissue augmentation with occlusive titanium barriers in jaw vertical defects: a novel approach

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate hard and soft tissue changes following guided bone regeneration (GBR), with occlusive titanium barriers (OTB), in the rehabilitation of partially edentulous atrophic jaws. Vertical bone gain (VBG), horizontal bone width (HBW), and flap thickness (FT) changes, observed between the first and the second surgical stages, were evaluated. Methods: The study included 35 patients (9 men and 26 women; mean age 60 ± 10.53 years) in need of vertical bone augmentation for implant placement. Seventy implants were placed, 44 with a one-stage approach (Group A) and 26 with a two-stage approach (Group B). VBG, HBW, and FT were measured and statistically compared. Results: VBG for implants placed in Group B was significantly higher than those placed in Group A (P = 0.006). The increased HBW in Group B was highly significant compared to that exhibited in Group A (P = 0.000). A highly significant difference was found in FT before and after the GBR in the two groups considered together, for both the upper and lower jaws (P = 0.000 for both). Conclusions: OTBs are reliable devices in GBR, yielding predictable results in terms of bone augmentation. In almost all cases (94.3%), a spontaneous increase of the FT, at the second surgical phase, was observed. This could be due to the titanium surface features which increases spontaneously the thickness of soft tissues over the OTB.