Utility of intraoral bone harvesting for maxillofacial bony defects- a clinical study

The reconstructive options of the maxillofacial region after bony defects are always challenging. The success of intraoral bone grafts depends on the choice of donor site as well as handling of the graft. Bone grafts for maxillofacial defect reconstruction can be done by extraoral donor and intraoral donor sites. The aim of this study is to evaluate the utility of intraoral bone harvesting technique for the reconstruction of maxillofacial defects. Total of 192 patients requiring bone graftingprocedures involved in this study from 2013 to 2017. The bone bone grafting techniques were used for alveolar bone defects, reconstruction of orbital bone defects, orthognathic surgical and dental implant procedures. Out of 192 patients, 48 patients underwent intraoral harvesting of bone grafting, 92 patients underwent extraoral bone harvesting and remaining patients were treated by alloplastic bone graft materials.
Results: In all together intraoral harvesting of the graft was done in mild to moderate sized maxillofacial surgical defects. Total of 27 patients underwent grafting from chin symphysis region, 5 from anterior border of ramus, 5 from anterolateral wall of maxilla, 1 from coronoid process, 2 tuberosity and 8 underwent miscellaneous source of grafting.
Conclusions: The evidence supporting the use of autogenous intramembranous bone grafts is reviewed in this presentation. The rationale of donor site selection, the technique of intraoral bone harvesting, advantages and disadvantages of harvest sites are discussed. The success of any bone grafting technique depends upon better understanding of bone graft biology, selection of appropriate site for bone harvesting, optimizing the small amount of bone graft available and recognizing alternative sources for bone harvesting.