Alveolar zygomatic buttress: A new donor site for limited preimplant augmentation procedures

Purpose: Augmentation of anterior maxillary alveolar bone defects before placement of endosseous implants still poses a clinical challenge. Previous traumatic loss of upper anterior teeth is often concomitant with significant bone loss. The aim of augmentation is to reconstitute as far as possible the original hard tissue contour. This is a prerequisite for later optimal positioning of the dental implants in accordance with prosthodontic and functional principles. Materials and Methods: This article describes a new method for the reconstruction of small anterior maxillary alveolar bone defects using donor bone from the zygomatic buttress region. Results: This region provides harvested bone with a natural convex shape, which is ideally suited for the anterior alveolar process region. Later fibrous tissue transplantation to provide more anterior projection to the anterior dental area is also avoided. Conclusion: Bone harvesting was done with the piezoelectric device, which avoids trauma to the mucosal membrane of the maxillary sinus. (C) 2007 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.