An Overview on Ridge Augmentation

The alveolar process is sensitive to a variety of environmental and physiologic factors that influence its ability to function and maintain its integrity. Residual ridge is a term used to describe the shape of the clinical alveolar ridge after healing of bone and soft tissues after tooth extractions. After extraction of teeth, the alveolar portion of the jaws starts to atrophy;this is also referred to as residual ridge resorption (RRR). This often leads to a situation where there is no longer sufficient support.Numerous bone and soft tissue augmentation techniques have been suggested for regenerating the lost tissue structures ,and achieving predictable treatment outcomes remain a significant challenge in clinical practice .Various techniques and bone graft materials have been proposed to augment the horizontal and vertical dimension of the alveolar ridge, such as guided bone regeneration (GBR) through the use of resorbable and non-resorbable membranes, bone grafting, ridge splitting, distraction osteogenesis and sinus lifting procedurers, can be applied for reconstruction of alveolar ridge deficiencies.