RESUMO
PURPOSE: In the management of the narrow alveolar ridge, the flapless piezotome crest split (FPCS) technique with horizontal distraction was introduced as an alternative to lateral alveolar ridge augmentation using autologous bone block grafting (ABBG). The study purpose was to measure and compare the alveolar crest width and complications between FPCS and ABBG. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We implemented a nonblinded, randomized clinical trial. The sample included patients requiring lateral alveolar ridge augmentation before implant insertion. The predictor variable was lateral alveolar ridge augmentation performed using ABBG (control group) or FPCS using an ultrasonic surgical device (Piezotome II or Piezotome CUBE; Acteon, Norwich, UK) and specific crest split working tips (test group). The primary outcome variable was the overall coronal crest width achieved after completed healing measured at 6 months using 3-dimensional imaging studies. Other study variables included the postoperative morbidity, staged using the Universal Pain Assessment Scale, complications, and surgery duration. Descriptive and bivariate statistics were computed using SPSS, version 22.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY), and P ≤ .05 was considered to indicate statistical significance. RESULTS: The sample included 567 patients treated with ABBG (56.1% female; age, 64.1 ± 20.2 years) and 562 treated with FPCS (57.2% female; age, 62.3 ± 18.2 years). The baseline crest width in the control and test groups was 2.1 ± 0.5 mm and 1.9 ± 0.4 mm, respectively. The final crest width achieved with ABBG and FPCS was 5.8 ± 0.8 mm and 6.5 ± 0.7 mm, respectively (P > .05). Statistically significant differences (P < .05) were found between the ABBG and FPCS groups in the postoperative complication rate, morbidity, and operative time, all in favor of FPCS. CONCLUSIONS: FPCS seems to be a significantly less traumatic alternative to buccal onlay grafting with autologous bone blocks, providing a comparable or better net gain in the alveolar crest width with a significantly shorter operative time and less postoperative morbidity.