Surgical Procedures for Placement of Zygomatic Implant- A Review

Abstract

Zygomatic Implants (ZI’s) have become a popular choice in recent times, which anchor the dense Zygomatic Bone (ZB). Unlike maxillary bone, ZB does not resorb and acts as a ladder step that takes most of load similar to the pillars of a ladder, thereby providing an obvious advantage for implant placement. These ZIs are an alternative to conventional implants in narrow/atrophic maxillary ridges, that require grafting techniques which might be quite expensive, time-consuming. Whereas, on the other hand ZIs are relatively quick, painless, and with an immediate implant loading prosthesis protocol. The objective of this review article was to study the published literature for various surgical techniques available for the placement of ZI and the procedures through which they are done. An extensive search of electronic databases like PubMed, Google scholar, CrossRef, Science Direct was performed. Key search terms used were dental implant, zygomatic arch, atrophy, maxillary sinus, surgical techniques, quad zygoma, defective maxillary bone. The clinician’s experience, proper clinical assessment, case selection and use of appropriate surgical procedure are imperative for the success of ZI. Among various available surgical techniques, a single technique is preferred over the other based on anatomy of the maxillary sinus, skeletal forms of zygomatic buttress-alveolar crest complex and prosthetic bailout.

Keywords

• immediate dental implant loading
• osteotomy
• zygoma