Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate intraoperative and postoperative complications of alveolar distraction and outcome.
Study design: Ten patients with alveolar ridge deficiencies were treated with alveolar distraction osteogenesis by means of intraosseous distractors (Lead system, Stryker Leibenger, Kalamazoo, Mich). The deficiencies were caused by atrophy after periodontal disease or atrophy after tooth extraction (n = 6), benign tumor resection (n = 2), trauma (n = l), or oligodontia in a case of ectodermal dysplasia (n = l). The location of the defects was the anterior mandible (7), posterior mandible (1), and anterior maxilla (2). The mean follow-up was 1.8 years, with a range of 10 months to 3 years.
Results: The mean alveolar distraction achieved in 10 cases was 8.7 mm (5-15 mm). The intraoperative and postoperative problems encountered were lingual (n = 3) and palatal (n = 2) displacement of the distracted segment, fracture of the distracted segment in a very thin alveolar bone (n = 1), and intraoperative bleeding (n = 1).
Conclusion: Overall complication rate was 70%. However, most of the complications were minor and eliminated easily. Implant success rate was 85%.