Losing your teeth to trauma or oral or other disease usually also causes the loss of the supporting bone structures. Often, the bone loss is not severe and dental implants may be implanted without great difficulty.
Sometimes, dentists try to take a short cut: place short, narrow or very long implants in a very limited anchorage site. So called “zygomatic implants” pass through the maxillary sinuses and anchor in the cheek bone.
However, the solution is not to modify the size of the implants but to restore the missing bone. It can be done through bone grafting, or bone transplants from areas such as the opposite jaw, the skull, the hip, the lower or upper extremities.
These are extremely predictable procedures when performed by a qualified surgeon, preferably trained in craniomaxillofacial surgery.
Once the normal anatomy and morphology reestablished, implants can be placed in their precise location and of optimal size and number to restore the missing dentition ad integrum.
