Case Study ES

Our patient is a healthy 23 year-old female who presented to my office in December of 1998 for consultation to remove a tumor in her anterior lower jaw. Later that month she underwent removal of the Central Giant Cell Granuloma.

Fifteen months later the patient was ready for reconstruction of the ridge (alveolus) of the lower jaw. The various options of hard & soft tissue grafting vs. distraction osteogenesis surgery were discussed with the patient. I believed distraction surgery would provide the better result as it would generate sufficient hard & soft tissue for dental implants.

In May of 2000 the patient underwent a segmental osteotomy of the anterior lower jaw and placement of the distraction device. After a week of healing I began to distract the segment upward at a rate of .8mm per day. In approximately 10 days the height of the distracted segment was sufficient.

Fourteen weeks later the distraction rod was removed 5 implants were placed. After six months of healing the restorative dentist placed a bridge on the implants.

The patient is currently 8 years after surgery and doing well.

Fig 1: Panorex of Tumor	Fig 2: Patient's mandible pre-reconstruction
Fig 3a: Panorex of mandible before Distraction Surgery	b: 3-dimensional Digital rendering of patient's lower jaw before surgery
Fig 4: Panorex showing distraction device in place	Fig 5a: Patient's mandible at end of distraction
B: Panorex at end of distraction with rod removed	Fig 6: Panorex of patient with 5 dental implants
Fig 7: Clinical of restored dental implants