Primary Stability of Implants Inserted Following Sinus Lift and Bone Graft in the Posterior of the Maxilla

Introduction: this study aimed to compare the primary stability of implants inserted conventionally with those inserted following sinus lift plus bone graft. materials and methods: the data consisted of periotest scores from 12 patients (7 women, 5 men, mean age of 47.8±10.4) and 24 implants. each patient had 1 implant which was inserted conventionally and another using sinus lift (lateral window) and bone graft, therefore, each patient rolled as control as well as case group for him/herself. eight patients had surgery on the right side and other 4 on the left side. after 4 months of surgery, primary stability was measured by periotest at 3 points. radiographs also were served to evaluate success rate of each technique. the patients were collected from a private clinic during 8 months. mann-whitney u test was served for analysis; p-value less than 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. results: the difference between diameters and lengths of implants between case and control group was insignificant (p>0.05). the mean score of periotest for case and control group was -2.73±1.52 and -4.31 ±1.99 respectively. although the primary stability was higher in the control group and mann-whitney u analysis showed a significant difference (p<0.05), but as both scores were negative, primary stability was acceptable in the case group as well. conclusion: despite the lower primary stability of implants inserted in regions with a sinus lift and graft, the technique is acceptable and clinically efficient.