title: Lowering of the mouth floor and vestibuloplasty to support a mandibular overdenture retained by two implants. A case report.
abstract: In Oral Implantology most of the procedures are predictable and have high success rates. The use of osseointegrated implants as a therapeutic option for the rehabilitation of patients with severe mandibular atrophy has decreased the need for pre-prosthetic surgery Nevertheless, complications may occur during implant surgery and also once the prosthesis has been placed. This paper describes the case of a totally edentulous patient with an upper complete removable denture and an implant-retained overdenture with two implants in the intermentonian region. During clinical examination, the implant abutments were totally covered by soft tissue since the floor of the mouth was elevated. The panoramic radiography showed severe mandibular atrophy. Vestibuloplasty was performed together with the lowering of the floor of the mouth under general anesthesia and nasotracheal intubation to expose the implants. A new prosthesis was fabricated for the patient to prevent recurrence and improve the patient's chewing ability as it formed a physical barrier against soft tissue migration on prosthetic attachments. Key words:Vestibuloplasty, lowering of the mouth floor, complications in oral implantology.
authors.affiliation: DDS. Master in Oral Surgery and Orofacial Implantology, School of Dentistry, University of Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Isidoro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cortell-Ballester
authors.affiliation: DDS. Associate Professor of Oral Surgery. Professor of the Master degree program in Oral Surgery and Orofacial Implantology. School of Dentistry of the University of Barcelona. Researcher of the IDIBELL Institute. Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.affiliation: DDS, MD, PhD. Chairman and Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. School of Dentistry of the University of Barcelona. Coordinator/Researcher of the IDIBELL Institute. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon of the Teknon Medical Center, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Cosme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gay-Escoda