Rehabilitation of Atrophied Low-Density Posterior Maxilla by Implant-Supported Prosthesis

The rehabilitation of edentulous posterior maxilla is a challenging task that could be complicated by the availability of low-density and reduced height of alveolar bone. Patients were enrolled in this study upon the presence of type IV bone and residual bone height < 5mm in posterior maxilla. Novel procedure for transalveolar sinus floor elevation was described to insert 10 short implants in 4 patients. Neither implant failure nor prosthetic failure was observed during a follow-up of 44 +/- 3 months. Mesial bone loss of 0.5 +/- 0.6mm and a distal bone loss 1.3 +/- 0.9mm were measured after 35 +/- 4 months of loading.