Preliminary report on a staged ridge splitting technique for implant placement in the mandible: a technical note.

Purpose: Narrow edentulous alveolar ridges less than 5 mm wide require horizontal augmentation for the placement of screw-type dental implants. A staged approach to ridge splitting in the mandible to decrease the risk of malfracture during osteotomy is presented.

Materials And Methods: Five consecutive patients with 6 long-span edentulous areas of the mandibular ridge were included in this study.

Self-reinforced biodegradable plates and screws for fixation of zygomatic fractures.

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective clinical study was to evaluate zygomatic fracture fixation with the BioSorbFX osteosynthesis system by assessing stability of reduction as well as complications in the first postoperative year and by conducting a survey to document surgeons' opinions on biodegradable osteosynthesis for this indication.

Material: From January to September 2003, 25 patients with displaced non-infected unilateral fracture of the zygoma were operated upon (m:f = 20:5; age 17-81 years; mean 39.4 years) using the BioSorbFX 2.