Clinical Procedures
Over more than 5 decades of clinical research, important advances have been made in the field of osseointegration. The method is now routinely used to replace missing teeth, extremities, ears and eyes. It can also be used to attach bone-anchored hearing aids and in joint replacements.
Bone grafting techniques has been developed allowing the building of bone where the original quantity is insufficient for fixture placement.
A grafting is a rather invasive procedure, a technique for placing fixtures in the zygomatic cheek bone, has been developed, which in many cases eliminates the need for grafting also in the severely resorbed maxilla.
The dynamic relation between fixture and jawbone can be distinguished over time as three partially overlapping periods. During the healing phase, new bone is formed close to the immobilized, resting fixture.
Clinical applications of Osseointegration in the Oral and Maxillofacial area
(courtesy of Dr. Marcelo Ferraz de Oliveria)