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.

Fixation of zygomatic fractures with a biodegradable copolymer osteosynthesis system: short- and long-term results.

Biodegradable osteosynthesis devices can be viewed as addition to, not yet replacement for conventional metal osteosynthesis materials. In a series of 65 patients with zygomatic fractures, a short-term complication/sequelae rate of 22.8% and a long-term complication rate of 9.

Conservative treatment of large cystic lesions of the mandible: a prospective study of the effect of decompression.

Our aim was to evaluate prospectively the effects of decompression as the primary treatment of large mandibular cysts, irrespective of their histological type. Twenty patients with large mandibular cysts completed treatment successfully. After a mean duration of decompression of 446 days, cysts had shrunk by a mean of 81%.

Pedicled sandwich plasty: a variation on alveolar distraction for vertical augmentation of the atrophic mandible.

We describe a method of vertical augmentation of an edentulous mandible that causes minimal weakening of bone and disturbance of sensation.

Guided bone regeneration with titanium membranes: a clinical study.

Guided bone regeneration using barrier membranes is useful in bone augmentation. Because the commonly used polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE, Gore-Tex (R), WL Gore, Flagstaff, AZ, USA) membranes or resorbable membranes tend to collapse, more stable membranes are desirable. A titanium membrane (FRIOS(R) BoneShield, Friatec, Mannheim, Germany) was evaluated in a clinical study of 52 patients.

Transoral miniplate osteosynthesis of condylar neck fractures.

Objective: In a retrospective study, we reviewed a series of 55 consecutive patients with 57 fractures of the condylar neck that were treated with transoral miniplate osteosynthesis.

Study Design: Forty-one patients were included in a clinical follow-up study; the median length of study was 26.5 months (minimum, 7 months; maximum, 79 months).

Computer-aided surgery in distraction osteogenesis of the maxilla and mandible.

When using unidirectional intraoral distraction devices, it is desirable to be able to determine the final position of the bone fragment after the distraction procedure. However, additional constraining forces from adjacent tissues render the prediction of the distraction direction difficult. We have utilised computer-aided surgery in three patients for intraoperative control of the distraction direction.

Fixation of zygomatic fractures with a new biodegradable copolymer osteosynthesis system. Preliminary results.

In a prospective study, a new biodegradable osteosynthesis material for the facial skeleton has been used in 27 patients with zygomatic fractures. In the six-month follow-up period, the first ten patients showed clinically and radiologically uneventful healing of bone. There were no implant-related complications.

Lactosorb panel and screws for repair of large orbital floor defects.

In a series of five patients with extensive fractures of the orbital floor, we used a biodegradable sheet for bridging of the bony defects. To achieve optimal support of the orbital contents in their anatomically correct position, we fixed the sheet with at least two resorbable screws to the infraorbital rim. This new technique appears to be superior to conventional methods because it offers reproducible results without the need for secondary interventions.