The purpose of this study was to compare the histologic and radiologic differences between single- and double-layer collagen membrane techniques in flapless ridge preservation. The mandibular fourth premolar and first molar of four beagle dogs were used in the experiment. Mesial roots of the teeth were extracted and root canal treatment was performed at the distal roots. Ridge preservation was performed at the extraction sites using synthetic bone graft material. A single layer (control group) or double layer (test group) of non-crosslinked collagen membrane was applied following bone graft application. Three months later, the animals were sacrificed and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and histomorphometric analyses were conducted. Nonparametric Mann-Whitney test was performed to compare between the control and test groups. The vertical difference between buccal and lingual crests of control and test groups was 1.28 ± 0.41 and 0.53 ± 0.37 mm, respectively (p = 0.026). The mineralized bone area in control and test groups was 31.48% ± 7.41% and 42.25% ± 9.73%, respectively (p = 0.041). Within the limit of this study, ridge preservation using the double-layer membrane technique showed a reduced buccal bone resorption and improved new-bone formation in the ridge compared to that using the single-layer membrane technique.
Keywords: bone regeneration; collagen; membrane.