Stability after osteotomy of the edentulous maxilla

The results after advancement and lowering of the edentulous maxilla after a mean follow-up of 21 months are presented. Eight cases were stabilized with wire osteosyntheses, eight others with miniplates. In contrast to earlier reports considerable variation of the results after a longer follow-up was found, although the means of the whole group do not differ very much from other series. It is concluded that the Le Fort-I operation is more reliable for the augmentation of the edentulous maxilla than onlay grafting. Better results are achieved after stabilization with miniplates than with wiring.