Guided bone regeneration (GBR) is a well-established and generally predictable method for repairing alveolar ridge defects and preparing edentulous sites for implant placement. Standard GBR involves filling the space underneath a membrane with autogenous bone or a mixture composed of autogenous bone particles and allogeneic bone tissue or heterologous biomaterials. The use of a barrier membrane for GBR has sometimes been associated with complications, however - reportedly involving exposure, infection, and collapse - and the non-resorbable types of membrane seem to be involved more often than the resorbable solutions. Such complications may be severe enough to defeat the object of the GBR procedure. A non-resorbable high-density polytetrafluoroethylene (d-PTFE) membrane has recently been designed specifically for use in bone-augmentation procedures that seems to assure a good bone regeneration process even when the membrane is exposed to the oral cavity. This case report describes an exposure of a d-PTFE membrane occurring after a maxillary GBR procedure and how it was overcome successfully, enabling implants insertion.
Keywords: dental implant therapy; guided bone regeneration; heterologous biomaterials; vertical bone augmentation.