Reconstruction of the extremely resorbed mandible with interposed bone grafts and placement of endosseous implants. A preliminary report on outcome of treatment and patients' satisfaction.

During recent decades many surgical techniques have been developed to enlarge the denture-bearing area of the mandible. Most of these techniques improved retention and stability of the lower dentures only temporarily. Since the advent of endosseous implants to stabilize overdentures, combinations of augmentation procedures and placement of endosseous implants have been introduced to restore the severely resorbed mandible. In this study we describe the preliminary results of such a combined approach using sandwich osteotomy with an autogenous bone graft (iliac crest) followed by placement of four endosseous implants in the interforaminal region in 10 women. After a mean follow-up period of 31 months (range 19-57) several variables were measured including condition of the peri-implant tissues, radiographic bone changes and patient satisfaction. The first results indicate that the technique described offers a solid base for implant-stabilized overdentures: no implants were lost, the peri-implant tissues were in good condition, bone loss was limited, and patients were satisfied. Future studies will evaluate the permanence of these results.