Comparison of Pathologic Changes in the Maxillary Sinus Before and After Dental Implant Surgery Using Cone Beam Computed Tomography.

Purpose: To examine the changes of dentoalveolar structures and pathologies in the maxillary sinus before and after dental implant surgery alone or with direct vs indirect sinus lifting using CBCT images of the maxillary posterior region.

Materials and methods: Preoperative and postoperative CBCT images of 50 sinus sites and the alveolar bone around 83 implants in 28 patients were evaluated. Maxillary sinus pathologies were classified as mucosal thickening (MT), mucus retention cyst (MRC), polyp, and sinusitis before and after surgery. The changes after surgery were determined to be no change, reduction in pathology, or increase in pathology. Comparisons of pathology changes among the treatment groups were evaluated statistically with chi-square test, McNemar test, and Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: Of the 50 sinuses evaluated for the presence of sinus pathology, 24 of 50 did not change postoperatively, the pathology increased in 10 sinuses, and the pathology decreased in 16. When the maxillary sinus regions were evaluated after indirect sinus lifting, direct sinus lifting, and in patients who had only implant surgery, there was no statistically significant difference between pathology distribution in terms of the procedure applied to the sinus (P > .05). However, in the maxillary sinuses with a pathology before implant placement were evaluated postoperatively, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of the presence of a change in pathology (ie, improvement or a decrease; P < .05). The maxillary sinuses without pathology before implant placement showed a statistically significant difference for no change; ie, continuation of the healthy state (P < .05).

Conclusion: This study showed that surgical procedures could have a direct effect on the sinus membrane and maxillary sinus. Both the implant procedure and surgical approach may have an effect on maxillary sinus pathology, as well as an increase or decrease of the pathology. Hence, further studies with a longer-term follow-up should be performed to better understand the correlation between implant surgery and pathology.