Rehabilitation of the severely atrophic maxilla by a new alternative method

The severely atrophic maxilla is one of the most significant challenges for dental rehabilitation within the stomatognathic system. Basically, the use of conventional dental implants might be sufficient, together with inlay, vertical, or horizontal onlay osteoplasties or in combination with special implants such as the zygoma implant; however, total treatment time remains around 1 year. IPS (Individual Patient Specific Implant)-preprosthetic is a new therapeutic strategy for manufacturing a patient-specific, 3D-printed, one-piece implant for immediate dental rehabilitation using selective laser melting technology. This is a primarily loadable, rigidly multi-vector-fixated implant that is an important line extension to conventional dental implants. It can be used in cases of associated higher morbidity or invasiveness, or where there are time restrictions, in comparison with a regular surgical-prosthodontic protocol, especially where those protocols had previously failed. Between March 2015 and August 2020, 47 patients were treated with an IPS-preprosthetic in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the Hannover Medical School, Germany, on an out-patient basis. In 13 cases, extreme maxillary atrophy or ablation was the indication to use the IPS-preprosthetic strategy. Within the observation period of up to 6 years, no IPS-preprosthetic implant was lost. In each case, rigid fixation was achieved and primary loading was possible.