Osteotome Sinus Elevation and Simultaneous Placement of Porous-surfaced Dental Implants: a Morphometric Study in Rabbits

The objective was to establish a model in rabbits in which to study the healing events associated with localized indirect osteotome-mediated maxillary sinus floor elevation in conjunction with simultaneous placement of sintered porous-surfaced dental implants. On one side of the maxilla of each of 28 rabbits, a sintered porous-surfaced titanium alloy press-fit implant was placed without the use of a bone graft material, while on the collateral side an implant was placed after first adding Bio-Oss graft particles to the osteotomy. Specimens were retrieved for morphometric assessment of bone contact and bone ingrowth of the porous implant surface after 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of healing. All implants became osseointegrated by bone ingrowth into the porous implant surface. While the addition of graft particles did not result in a statistically significant increase in the parameters measured, a trend for greater bone contact and particularly bone ingrowth at the apices of the implants was seen as healing time increased. The rabbit maxillary sinus can be used to study healing following placement of sintered porous-surfaced dental implants using the indirect sinus elevation procedure.