Immediate Loading of Implants in a Completely Edentulous Maxilla Using Flapless Surgery

Abstract

Patient: The authors present the case of a 61-year-old woman who requested implant treatment for her completely edentulous maxilla because of difficulty in masticating with a removable complete denture. A treatment plan that involved the immediate loading of implants in the completely edentulous maxilla by using flapless surgery was developed. Soft tissue was punched out, and 10 implants were placed. To avoid sinus bone grafting, tilted implants were placed in front of the wall of the maxillary sinus and in the region of maxillary tuberosity. An immediate provisional restoration was placed on the same day.
Results: All the implants achieved good primary stability. Since an immediate provisional restoration was placed on the same day as the implantation, the patient was able to recover immediate jaw function. After surgery, she experienced no postoperative pain and did not need to take any anti-inflammatory and analgesic medications.
Discussion: Immediate loading of implants made it possible to reduce the treatment period, achieve immediate jaw function, and decrease surgery time. Thus, this treatment was obviously advantageous for the patient. Flapless implant surgery also contributed to minimizing surgical invasion, reducing the treatment period, and decreasing surgery time.
Conclusion: This report presents a case in which the implants were successfully loaded immediately into a patient’s completely edentulous jaw by using flapless surgery.