Estimation of the possibility to treat the edentulous maxilla with osseointegrated implants.

The possibility to treat individuals with an edentulous maxilla with osseointegrated implants was studied in randomly selected individuals from the city of Malmö. From a panoramic radiograph one oral radiologist and one oral surgeon together decided possible number and length of implants potentially installable. It was found that treatment with osseointegrated implants could possibly be done in 80% of the individuals and in 20% bone transplantation would have been necessary. Preoperative tomography was needed in about two thirds of the individuals for a more accurate evaluation of the degree of bone resorption.