Horizontal alveolar distraction of the narrow maxillary ridge for implant placement.

Purpose: The purpose of this report was to describe a surgical technique for performing horizontal alveolar distraction of the knife-edge maxillary ridge.

Patient And Methods: The patient was a 17-year-old woman with atrophy of the alveolar rim in the anterior upper jaw, which had inadequate width for implant placement. The transport segment was constructed by the osteotomy of the labial cortex of the alveolus.