Mandibular tori as a source for onlay bone graft augmentation: a surgical procedure

Conventional dentistry has provided acceptable treatment alternatives for the partially or fully edentulous patient for decades. Recent innovations have provided clinicians with an assortment of new techniques to restore the function of these patients. Established treatment alternatives have been significantly enhanced, resulting in increased acceptance of predictable dental implant restorations. However, implant dentistry cannot be successfully utilized in all edentulous patients, and augmentation measures are often necessary to enhance the alveolar bone, requiring autogenous donor sites. While bone tissue has been harvested from numerous sites, the mandibular tori may provide sufficient graft material. The teaching objective of this article is to describe a clinical implant placement procedure, utilizing bilateral tori as the donor sites of the autogenous grafting material. A clinical case is utilized to document the tori removal and the augmentation procedures.