Pterygoid Implant for Atrophic Posterior Maxilla

Abstract

Replacement of missing teeth in the posterior maxilla is always a challenge for the treating implant surgeon as the posterior maxilla has several obstacles in the form of quality, quantity, the anatomy of the maxillary sinus, and inaccessibility. To overcome these deficiencies, several surgical procedures such as sinus lift, bone augmentation, tilted implants, short implants, and zygomatic implants were tried. Since these procedures have their own limitations, pterygomaxillary region provides us an excellent place for placement of implant and rehabilitation of posterior maxilla. This case report describes the usage of the pterygomaxillary region for placement of the implant to restore atrophic posterior maxilla, without any additional surgical procedures.