Lateral Approach to the Maxillary Sinus and Mandibular Canal in Severely Atrophied Posterior Alveolar Bone.

Purpose: To present a technique to rehabilitate atrophied alveolar ridges in the posterior maxilla and mandible using bone lateral to the maxillary sinus and to the inferior alveolar nerve and to present a retrospective study of the technique.

Materials And Methods: Severe resorption of the posterior region of the maxilla and mandible was treated following a conservative approach. Patients who presented this bone crest condition that impeded the placement of implants and had an anatomy that allowed the inferior alveolar nerve or the maxillary sinus to be approached laterally were treated.

Retrospective study of the survival and associated risk factors of wedge-shaped implants.

Purpose: To assess the long-term behavior of wedge-shaped implants and evaluate the influence of the associated risk factors on implant survival rates.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective review of clinical records of patients treated with wedge-shaped implants between 1992 and 2011 was conducted. Data on patient sex, age, smoking habits, and history of periodontitis; details of implant length, diameter, angle, and location; and data on surgical, reconstructive, and prosthetic procedures, and systemic disease were selected for analysis.