Rehabilitation of Atrophied Low-Density Posterior Maxilla by Implant-Supported Prosthesis.

Abstract

The rehabilitation of edentulous posterior maxilla is a challenging task that could be complicated by the availability of low-density and reduced height of alveolar bone. Patients were enrolled in this study upon the presence of type IV bone and residual bone height <5 mm in posterior maxilla. Novel procedure for transalveolar sinus floor elevation was described to insert 10 short implants in 4 patients. Neither implant failure nor prosthetic failure was observed during a follow-up of 44 ± 3 months. Mesial bone loss of 0.5 ± 0.6 mm and a distal bone loss 1.3 ± 0.9 mm were measured after 35 ± 4 months of loading.