Comparing Bone Graft Success, Implant Survival Rate, and Marginal Bone Loss: A Retrospective Study on Materials and Influential Factors

Bone grafting serves to restore the alveolar bone defect, providing adequate alveolar bone essential for long-term implant survival. This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the success rate of guided bone regeneration (GBR) bone grafting and investigate the survival rate of implants and the degree of marginal bone loss (MBL) around implants. Furthermore, the influence of confounding factors such as patient conditions, bone graft properties, and implant characteristics was assessed. This study was carried out on treatment outcomes of patients with implants between January 2007 and December 2016, using various graft materials, including autograft, allograft, and xenograft. In a mean follow-up of 70 months (range: 3–10 years), the overall success rate of bone graft (n = 80) was 100%, and the overall survival rate of implant (n = 107) was 97.2% (autograft: 100%, allograft: 100%, and xenograft: 92.9%; P = .03). Mean MBL up to 3 years after implant installation were similar among graft materials, with 0.84 ± 0.48 mm in autograft, 0.73 ± 0.42 mm in allograft, and 1.01 ± 0.59 mm in xenograft (P = .14). Posterior mandibular location had a significant influence on implant survival (P = .003). A significant association of MBL with several factors, including age >60 years (P = .03), both diabetes and hypertension (P = .02), without receiving adjunctive membrane (P = .04), loading within 3–6 months (P < .001), and screw-retained crown (P = .008), was confirmed. Our data substantiated that implant rehabilitation with GBR using autograft and allograft provides the most predictable results. The factors above should be carefully considered with xenograft to enhance long-term clinical outcomes.