Inferior Alveolar Nerve Transposition Using a Piezosurgery Device with Simultaneous Implant Insertion

Martins de Castro-Silva, Lucas; de Moraes, Marcio; Pereira-Filho, Valfrido Antonio; Real Gabrielli, Mário Francisco

Summary

Implant rehabilitation of the edentulous mandible tends to be complicated by the presence of bone atrophy. In cases of moderate to severe mandibular atrophy the bone height between the alveolar crest and inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) is small and sometimes limited to only a few millimeters. Implant placement in such situations is very difficult and implies the risk of inferior alveolar nerve damage. Piezosurgery is being recently used as an alternative to obtain greater accuracy and safety. The advantages of using piezosurgery in inferior alveolar nerve transposition are: (a) the lowest risk of injury the IAN; (b) less intraoperative bleeding and reduction of postoperative swelling, (c) less thermal damage the bone surfaces and to the IAN. We present a case of mandibular atrophy in which inferior alveolar nerve transposition and implant placement were carried out using a piezosurgery device.

KEY WORDS: inferior alveolar nerve, dental implants, ultrasonics.

How to cite this article

DE CASTRO-SILVA, L. M.; DE MORAES, M.; PEREIRA-FILHO, V. A. & GABRIELLI, M. F. R. Inferior alveolar nerve transposition using a piezosurgery device with simultaneous implant insertion. Int. J. Odontostomat., 6(3):303-306, 2012.