Surgical advantages with ITI TE implants placement in conjunction with split crest technique. 18-month results of an ongoing prospective study.

Implant rehabilitation of the edentulous maxilla may be somewhat problematic because of anatomic situations involving insufficient bone thickness. One approach in this situation is localized ridge augmentation with the split crest technique. This surgical approach allows the external cortical plate of the maxilla to be moved in a labial direction to gain an increase in width to introduce implants of appropriate diameter. This ongoing prospective study evaluated: (i) the surgical advantages that the new ITI TE implants have showed compared with the ITI standard solid-screw implants when placed in conjunction with the split crest technique and (ii) the implant success rate associated with 42 ITI TE implants and 40 ITI standard solid-screw implants placed in 40 patients in conjunction with the split crest technique. ITI TE implants have shown direct and indirect advantages in reducing the risk of fracture of the labial cortical plate during all the three fundamental surgical steps of this technique: (a) the ridge expansion with osteotomes; (b) implant site preparation with drills and (c) implant insertion. The overall success rates of ITI TE implants and standard screw implants were 100% and 95%, respectively. Based on the preliminary results of the present study, it can be concluded that ITI TE implants inserted in conjunction with split crest technique seem to be a promising surgical procedure to treat selected anatomic situations involving insufficient maxillary bone thickness.