Immediate Loading of Dental Implants Placed in Severely Resorbed Edentulous Maxillae Reconstructed With Le Fort I Osteotomy and Interpositional Bone Grafting

Abstract

Reconstruction and rehabilitation of atrophic maxillae with bone grafts is a lengthy and demanding procedure. This study reports the immediate loading of 50 implants placed on six extremely atrophied edentulous maxillae reconstructed with Le Fort I osteotomy and iliac bone grafting. Six patients, aged 49 to 68 years, with severely atrophied maxillae were treated with Le Fort I osteotomy and iliac bone grafting to allow for implant-borne prosthetic rehabilitation. Four to 5 months thereafter, 50 implants (seven to 10 per patient) were placed in reconstructed maxillae and immediately functionally loaded with a screw-retained definitive prosthesis. The patients were followed by clinical and radiographic examinations for 24 months after prosthetic loading. The grafting procedure and healing period before implant placement were uneventful in all patients. Two implants were lost within 2 months after prosthesis insertion in two patients, with an overall survival rate of 96%. The prostheses success rate was 100%. At the end of the follow-up period, all remaining implants appeared clinically healthy; crestal bone loss was >1.7 mm for six implants, resulting in a cumulative success rate of 84%. Immediate loading of implants placed after Le Fort I osteotomy and interpositional iliac bone grafting could be considered a viable protocol to rehabilitate extremely atrophied edentulous maxillae, considerably reducing the treatment time.