Anterior maxillary sandwich osteotomy technique with simultaneous implant placement: A novel approach for management of vertical deficiency

Abstract

Background: The introduction of sandwich osteotomy technique with simultaneous implant placement allowed various procedures to be carried out with a level of great precision and accuracy thus saving time for the patient and clinician. Purpose: The aim of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy of this new technique regarding increasing the anterior maxillary alveolar height with simultaneous implant placement. Materials and Methods: Nine patients suffering from multiple missing anterior maxillary teeth were selected with vertical dimension not less than 10 mm. anterior maxillary sandwich osteotomy technique was carried out for all patients using xenograft bone particulate with simultaneous implant placement at single stage surgery. Results: For two patients, four implants showed significant marginal bone loss with maximum marginal bone loss up to 2.8 mm. However, the immediate postoperative follow up went uneventful for all nine patients included in the present study. None of them showed any complication regarding postoperative wound dehiscence, infection, or segment mobility. Four months postoperative upon the prosthetic phase, all the 18 placed implant were clinically osseointegtated. Conclusion: All 18 implants were successfully integrated in the present study. The prosthetic phase started after 4 months for all cases and there was no need for harvesting of autogenous bone from the patient. But further studies are required to evaluate the viability of such approach in single implant placement cases.