title: Guided "sandwich" technique: a novel surgical approach for safe osteotomies in the treatment of vertical bone defects in the posterior atrophic mandible: a case report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A novel technique to perform safe osteotomies during inlay block regenerative procedures in the posterior atrophic mandible is described.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 52-year-old male patient with vertical atrophy of the left posterior mandible was treated adopting an inlay block "sandwich" technique using an allogenic cancelous block and a mixture of mineralized and demineralized human bone allograft in putty form as graft. The horizontal osteotomy for the lifting of the osteotomized bone segment was performed using a template prepared from a virtual anatomical replica of the patient's mandible obtained from cone beam computed tomography data. In the second surgical phase, 3 months after the augmentation, 2 implants were easily placed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The horizontal osteotomy was carried out, with no risk, very close to the nerve structures after the precise osteotomy line established preoperatively on the three-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) virtual reconstruction. No neurological complications were observed in the first days after the procedure, and no subsequent problems were recorded during the 3-month healing period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Radiographic evaluations and complication-free clinical healing demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique to obtain safe and precise osteotomies.
authors.affiliation: *Unit of Periodontology and Implantology, Dental School, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy. †Oral and Maxillofacial Department, A.C.O. San Filippo Neri, Rome, Italy. ‡Private practice, Terranegra di Legnago, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Felice
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barausse
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pistilli
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spinato
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bernardello
mesh_terms: D000540:Alveolar Ridge Augmentation / Q000379:methods*; D001284:Atrophy; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000379:methods*; D054893:Cone-Beam Computed Tomography; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007576:Jaw, Edentulous, Partially / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010027:Osteotomy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D018786:Bone Substitutes