Radiographic bone volume alteration after jaw cyst enucleation with or without simultaneous bone grafts: A prospective randomized study.

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to evaluate bone healing after jaw cyst enucleation with or without bone substitutes by cone beam computed tomography, and to analyze potential influence factors for bone formation as well. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty seven jaw cyst patients were randomly assigned to two groups. Thirty three patients in control group accepted cystectomy without any filling material. The rest 34 bone cavities which filled with xenograft (DBBM, Bio-Oss(R)) and covered by absorbable membrane (Bio-Gide(R)) were included in the guided bone regeneration (GBR) group. All patients were examined with cone bean computerized tomography before operation, 3 and 6 months after surgery. Linear regression analysis was applied to evaluate the influence factors of bone healing. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in bone formation rate at 3 months after enucleation, with shrinkage rate (SR) of cystic lesion in control group and GBR group of 26.43 +/- 14.98% and 20.78 +/- 10.80%, respectively (p > 0.05). Larger shrinkage area in GBR group was detected on postoperative radiographs after 6 months with SR of 60.11 +/- 19.23%, when compared to those in patients without filling (6 months SR: 48.63 +/- 19.39%, p = 0.018, <0.05). Linear regression analysis showed that cyst size was negatively correlated with bone formation. CONCLUSION: GBR with bovine xenograft and absorbable membrane showed considerable bone regeneration property in the healing of jaw cystic defects after enucleation of radicular cysts. Cyst size showed a suppressive influence on bone formation.