Le Fort I osteotomy with interpositional bone grafts and delayed oral implants for the rehabilitation of extremely atrophied maxillae: a 1–9‐year clinical follow‐up study on humans

Abstract

Results from this study showed that Le Fort I osteotomy with interpositional bone grafts followed by delayed implant placement is an acceptable means to rehabilitate edentulous patients affected by extremely atrophied edentulous maxillae. Survival rates of implants are consistent with those related to implants placed in native, non-reconstructed bone. Conversely, the success rate of implants resulted to be lower as compared with those obtained for implants placed in native bone.

Segmental Le Fort I osteotomy with bone grafting in unilateral severely atrophied maxilla

“…There has been a resurgence of interest in the use of the Le Fort I osteotomy for the correction of unfavourable intermaxillary sagittal, transverse and vertical relationships in patients with atrophied maxillae 3 . A modification of this technique, the Le Fort I swing osteotomy, has recently been described for posterior maxilla tumor extirpation 10 .…”

The Use of Computer-Guided Flapless Dental Implant Surgery (NobelGuide) and Immediate Function to Support a Fixed Full-ArchProsthesis inFresh-Frozen Homologous Patients with Bone Grafts

“…70 Le Fort I graft failure is sometimes possible, resulting in the prevention of implant placement. 71 In our study, 1 patient experienced incomplete healing of the osteotomy site, which was evident several weeks after the insertion of the implants. This patient was operated on again with a second Le Fort I, which was successful.…”

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

“…Among bone augmentation techniques, such as onlay and/or veneer bone grafts, 6 maxillary sinus lift with or without nasal‐floor grafting, 7 and guided bone regeneration, 7 only Le Fort I osteotomy in association with interpositional bone grafts allows forward and/or downward repositioning of the maxilla in a right occlusal position; 6‐8 furthermore, this procedure obtains more esthetic results with a harmonic profile, avoiding prosthetic compromises, such as anterior cantilever and lip support 9 . Several studies have demonstrated the reliability and predictability of this technique 6‐10 …”

“…The literature on implant insertion in grafted maxillae reports interesting outcomes with sinus or nose‐floor lifting, 7,11 onlay procedures, 11 and inlay grafting combined with Le Fort I osteotomy 10 . Nevertheless, many issues must be resolved to obtain more reliable results, such as the timing of implant placement (immediate 8 or delayed 12‐15 ) and the minimal number and features (dimension, shape, and surface properties) of fixtures to be placed 6,10,12 …”