Socket Preservation Using a (Dense) PTFE Barrier with or without Xenograft Material: A Randomized Clinical Trial

When alveolar preservation procedures are not performed after tooth extraction, aesthetic and functional impairment could occur. Guided bone regeneration using polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes has proven to be a simple alternative treatment that results in good maintenance of the alveolar bone for mediate/late implant placement. Therefore, this study compared the effect of alveolar preservation with the use of dense PTFE membranes, with and without xenograft material by Computerized tomography-based body composition (CTBC) analysis, after four months of the socket preservation procedure. A total of 29 teeth indicated for extraction. In the test group, the sockets were filled with bone graft biomaterial and subsequently coated with a dense PTFE membrane. In the control group, the sockets were filled with the blood clots and subsequently coated with a dense PTFE membrane. The results we found on the changes of the bone width and height after the procedures were: buccal plate: control group 0.46 mm, test group 0.91 mm; alveolar height: control group −0.41 mm, test group 0.35 mm; cervical third: control group −0.89 mm, test group −0.11 mm; middle third: control group −0.64, test group −0.50; and apical third: control group 0.09 mm, test group −0.14 mm. The use of a xenograft in conjunction with d-PTFE membranes proved to be superior to the use of the same membrane and blood clot only in regions of the crest, middle third, and alveolar height.