Clinical and experimental results of a sandwich-technique for mandibular alveolar ridge augmentation.

During the past two and a half years, thirteen patients have been operated upon using a "sandwich-technique" for mandibular alveolar ridge augmentation. This new technique was advocated by Schettler in 1974. In 3 cases, autologous rib cartilage was used, in 6 cases an autologous transplant from the iliac crest, and on four occasions, autologous "cialit"-conserved bone chips were inserted. All transplants healed without complications and no resorption was found in either the autologous or homologous transplants at the late follow-up examinations. These findings are supported by animal experiments in rabbits with the aid of the polychrome sequence marking technique using fluorochromes.