DISCUSSION The restoration of edentulous maxilla or mandible with dental implants entails a precise and diligent treatment plan along with good surgical skills and clinical acumen. This is essentially true with the posterior maxillary region where maxillary sinus sometimes pneumatizes and restricts convenient implant placement. This situation arises when there is severe bone loss associated with traumatic extractions, periodontal disease and sequel of unreplaced posterior maxillary teeth for a prolonged time and/or a combination of above. The increase in pneumatization of maxillary sinus is because of the higher air pressure in the pneumatized sinus cavity. The maxilla, post-extraction of the teeth tends to consists of thin cortices and spongy cancellous compartments. The advanced resorption of alveolar bone combined with a poor quality of bone found in the posterior maxilla creates a situation which is not conducive to higher clinical success with dental implants. As a consequence of this, placement of short implants in poor quality bone is not advisable as shorter implants when placed in maxilla may take a longer time to heal and may not reciprocate the same way as in the mandible. Jemt and Lekholm et al. (1995) 107 reported a failure rate of 24% with implants of height ≤ …show more content…
When the residual alveolar bone is ≤3-5mm lateral antrostomy technique is indicated which allows placement of implants of proper length (i.e≥10mm) in the posterior maxilla. Thus, significantly improving the predictability of implant therapy. Long term results shows that when implants of sufficient length are placed, success can be maintained over the long term, even in areas of poor bone density and /or augmented