Lights and shadows of bone augmentation in severe resorbed mandible in combination with implant dentistry

Edentulous mandible frequently undergoes severe bone atrophy with problems of prosthetic instability. Instability of the lower denture may cause difficulties with eating and speech, ulcerations of the oral mucosa for lower denture trauma, loss of facial vertical dimension. These problems may be solved by bone augmentation of severe resorption of edentulous mandible. The aim of this short review is to describe surgical techniques for bone augmentation of the severe resorption of edentulous mandible. In this paper, we define a severe resorption of edentulous mandible as a mandibular height in the symphyseal area of 12 mm or less as measured on a standardized lateral cephalogram. Bone grafts and distraction osteogenesis have allowed improving implantology from an experimental to a consolidate dental procedure. It is currently a valuable treatment modality in the prosthetic treatment of severe resorption of edentulous mandible. Numerous techniques have been developed for the rehabilitation of edentulous mandible with fixed or removable mandibular dentures. Today, the options for the restoration of the severe resorption of edentulous mandible with implants can be categorized as follows: insertion of short and narrow implants and a fixed or removable prosthesis; augmentation of the bone with the use of distraction osteogenesis or grafting procedures in combination with the insertion of dental implants loaded with fixed or removable prosthesis; placement of a transosteal dental implants supporting a denture.