The Effects of Alveolar Ridge Preservation: A Meta-Analysis

Purpose The aim of this article was to analyze the horizontal, vertical, and histological effects of alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) versus the ones of unassisted socket healing, in the format of an up-to-date review and meta-analysis. Materials and Methods An extensive electronic search in the electronic databases of the National Library of Medicine was conducted for articles published up to June 2014 to identify literature presenting data on the topic of ARP. Only randomized controlled trials, controlled clinical trials, and prospective trials were included for meta-analysis. Results After screening 903 abstracts from the electronic database, we included 64 studies in qualitative and 18…