Restoration of the atrophied posterior mandible with transverse alveolar maxillary/mandibular implants: technical note and case report.

Restoration of the atrophied posterior mandibular alveolus has been a surgical challenge in the past. Many treatment options have been published, each with unique shortcomings. This study will review and compare these techniques to a new type of implant, the transverse alveolar maxillary/mandibular implant (TAMMI). Using modified Nobel Biocare Brånemark System zygomatic implants that were shortened to 11.5, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22.5, or 25 mm, the authors reconstructed atrophied posterior mandibles. These TAMMIs were placed at a 45-degree angle, engaging both the crest of the ridge and the buccal cortex. Using TAMMIs, atrophied posterior mandibular alveoli as small as 9 mm have been successfully restored without complication to the inferior alveolar nerve.