RIDGE SPLIT AND AUGMENTATION TECHNIQUE FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF ATROPHIC MAXILLA: CASE REPORT

The success of dental implant treatment is being adversely affected by the excess alveolar crest resorption. Many techniques including bone augmentation, guided bone regeneration, ridge split and alveolar distraction techniques have been implemented successfully to overcome this problem. Ridge split technique is based on separation of the buccal and palatal cortical bone into two separate cortical plates in the horizontal plane and augmenting in between using various bone substitutes or placing implants directly. The main advantage of this technique is that it allows the augmenting bone horizontally while preserving the buccal cortical plate. In this case report, the treatment of maxillary horizontal ridge deficiency in edentulous patient was described in steps using piezosurgery, mini-distractors and xenogenic bone substitute. Fixed prosthetic restorations were delivered at the implant placement surgery based on immediate loading protocol.