APPLICATION AND ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMIZED BONE GRAFT OF A PATIENT UNDERGOING MANDIBLE AUGMENTATION AND DENTAL IMPLANTATION

The mandibular bone may be damaged for a variety of reasons. One of the methods used to facilitate and stimulate the bone to improve hard tissue formation is the use of bone grafts. In this study, a novel methodology was introduced to take a step towards making a custom xenograft for a patient with a mandibular bone defect. The application of the finite element method and evaluation of the graft simulation results was proposed, then the customized xenograft was provided using micro-milling. Also, 3D printing technology was used as a preoperative assessment of bone-graft interface conformity. Afterward, the graft was implemented for mandibular augmentation and the patient was prepared for further dental implantation. Finally, cone-based computer tomography images in different time intervals were taken for clinical assessment. Results showed that six months after the graft placement, the vertical distance from the alveolar ridge to the incisive canal and the mandibular canal was increased by 261% and 250%, respectively. Furthermore, the images taken after the insertion of dental implants and frequent observations by the dental surgeon approved the success of the treatment. Additionally, several quantitative parameters were compared to and established with the previous literature. Combining the conventional clinical examination method with an initial computational simulation by the criteria proposed in this study aided in predicting the success of mandibular augmentation and the subsequent dental implantation. More numerical analysis criteria can be added and assessed in future studies to improve the proposed method.