The use of extraoral autologous bone graft in alveolar ridge augmentation

In cases of great bone loss of the alveolar ridge, extraoral autologous grafts are used for augmentation. The most frequent donor sites for these grafts are iliac crest and calvaria. Grafts taken from these sites are mostly used as bone blocks that are fixed with a screw to the bone in the host site. These grafts can also be used as bone chips prepared with a bone mill. Both types of grafts are quantitatively sufficient even in the most complicated cases. They differ in structure and embryonic origin, which determines their characteristics and influences their selection. This is a very effective reconstructive method, which yields a high rate of good results and has rare complications.