The advent of dental implants has contributed to a large number of patients solving tooth loss every year all over the world. The treatment consists of the placement of a screw, which acts as a root, and on which a crown is fixed, providing a solution to tooth loss with a fixed prosthesis.
Despite being a simple process, there are cases in which the absence of bone in the maxilla prevents the placement of these implants. This loss of teeth in the maxilla is often a consequence of wearing a removable prosthesis for many years, which would prevent the placement of traditional implants.
Treatment of zygomatic implants
In those patients where it is difficult to apply implants, maxillofacial surgeons have developed different techniques using grafts to regenerate the lost bone and allow the placement of implants. The fear of those patients who suffer such a great loss of bone that they would need to undergo surgery to extract the bone from the hip or even from the skull to make the grafts has contributed to the research of a new technique. This consists of placing implants anchored in the malar bone, which makes it possible to restore a fixed prosthesis without the need for grafts. It is generally performed under local anesthesia and sedation or general anesthesia, always in the presence of an anesthesiologist and with the required sanitary measures.
This type of technique is more difficult than the usual ones, so it requires more experience and training. It is usually an intervention limited to maxillofacial surgeons and/or dentists with extensive surgical experience.
Dental esthetics in implantology
Undergoing zygomatic implant treatment does not mean giving up dental esthetics, especially in cases of compromised bone loss. In these situations we must treat them from a special approach, making a thorough examination of the patient’s anatomy and smile.
Thus, the esthetic treatment starts from the same extraction in which it may be necessary to perform a bone or gum graft. After the implant is placed, a provisional prosthesis may be required to shape the gum to achieve an excellent esthetic result that is satisfactory for the patient. The patient can go home with fixed provisional teeth on the same day or the next day, if requested by the patient.