Method: A comprehensive approach was adopted employing searching of electronic databases including the Cochrane Library, Pubmed, Scopus, OVID, EMBASE, ISI Web of Knowledge (MeSH headings and free text terms used). The time frame was from 1990 and final date for searching for studies was 16th April 2013. The inclusion criteria were: original articles in English, human studies, lateral window sinus graft only, studies with ≥10 sinuses, biopsies collected from implant osteotomy site, or an immediately neighboring site and histomorphometric analysis presented. The primary outcomes investigated were histomorohometric measurements of the regenerated bone, namely percentages of soft tissue, residual graft material and new bone.
Result: The initial search resulted in 797 articles. Titles and abstracts were screened according to the inclusion criteria. Full texts of 172 articles were retrieved and screened. Data extracted from 52 studies were included for analysis. Xenogenic grafts (of bovine origin), alone or their combination with autogenous bone were found to be the most documented bone substitute used with clinically and histologically predictable results. However, histomorphometric analysis of other classes of biomaterials used in lateral sinus augmentation resulted in a similar amount of new bone formation.
Conclusion: Predictable histological results of various bone substitutes in lateral window sinus floor augmentation suggest that contained space and good stabilization provided by the anatomy of the area are conducive to new bone formation regardless of graft type. Therefore the null hypothesis was accepted.