Horseshoe Le Fort I osteotomy: an augmentation technique for the severely atrophied maxilla--an eight-year follow-up.

Twenty-three patients (19 female, 4 male; 37-69 years old; mean age, 52 years) underwent horseshoe Le Fort I osteotomy from 1989 to 1997; 178 iMZ implants were placed either simultaneously by horseshoe Le Fort I osteotomy (76 implants) or in a second operation 6-12 months later (102 implants). Removable overdentures were made. Twenty-two patients wear an implant-borne overdenture; 1 patient refused an additional operation for placing implants and received a conventional, mucosally supported, upper-jaw prosthesis. The anteroposterior relationship satisfactorily improved in all patients, allowing for class I occlusion. All patients were satisfied with the aesthetic results, denture retention, speech, and mastication. Nevertheless, we lost 8 implants in 1 patient. We placed 178 endosteal implants in 22 patients; 8 were lost in 1 patient, and 7 more implants have been lost in 5 patients.