Can We Overcome the Weakest Links in Implantology?: Low Bone Density, Posterior Maxilla, and the Borderline Ridge (617)

Surgical implantology is not a fully optimized procedure due to several factors including low bone density, the posterior maxilla, as well as the borderline and resorbed alveolar ridge. The medical profession, with few exceptions, tends to adapt commercially available instruments that are developed for drilling other materials. Surgical instrumentation may directly affect implant stability, which is one of six factors that affect osseointegration. Therefore, improvements in instrumentation and surgical technique are shown to present good prospects for improving the clinical results. Osseodensification is an instrumentation specifically designed to manage variable bone morphology. It has been developed and documented through biomechanical, histological, and clinical evidence to improve bone density and subsequently enhance implant stability and its healing. This lecture will present the evidence and several clinical protocols through case examples demonstrating the versatility of this novel bone instrumentation. Participants will learn how implantologists can utilize this instrumentation to manage the borderline and resorbed alveolar ridge, the posterior maxilla and crestal sinus grafting, the molar septum expansion, and immediate implant placement with restoration.