Lateral Ridge Augmentation Around Implants

The rehabilitation of dentoalveolar defects and tooth loss has seen remarkable advancements over time. Extraction of tooth leads to reduction in physiologic dimension of bone and it is imperative to evaluate the site before implant placement. To overcome the loss of volume and to avoid complications, procedures to restore the resorbed alveolar bones prior to or during implant placement are usually performed. Lateral bone augmentation procedures with guided bone regeneration (GBR) are well documented in the literature with predictable results. It generally involves bone substitute xenograft and bioresorbable membrane combined with implant placement in single stage procedure or separately in two- stage procedure. As the search for better and improved materials continues, a porcine derived ribose cross-linked volumising collagen matrix (VCMX) based on GLYMATRIX® technology has been introduced which showed benefits over the conventional membranes in terms of simplified procedure, degradation, membrane exposure and healing. The collagen scaffold has been reportedly used as a core material for guided bone regeneration, when there is sufficient bone to place an implant but a horizontal defect is present in the crestal ridge. As part of augmentation VCMX is designed to expand and ossify during healing. The advantage of the material is that when placed in one or two layers, it may eliminate the use of bone substitute or connective tissue graft thus simplifying the augmentation procedure. In addition, adding a bone substitute is a valid option based on indication. In the quest of better material and simplified procedures, few authors have performed case studies based on application of VCMX for guided bone regeneration around dental implants and has shown promising results. However, there are no controlled clinical trials on application of VCMX for lateral ridge augmentation. Thus, the present study aims to assess the efficiency of VCMX compared to resorbable collagen membra