Purpose: The purpose of this report was to describe a surgical technique for performing alveolar distraction in the upper jaw via a palatal approach.
Patients and methods: To illustrate this technique we report 2 clinical cases in which palatal-approach alveolar distraction was used to rectify insufficient alveolar rim height. The first case involves a 50-year-old man with atrophy of the alveolar rim in the posterior upper jaw. From the palatal side, a transport segment pedicled to the vestibular mucosa was cut, and 2 Lead System distractors (Leibinger, Kalamazoo, MI) were placed. The second case involves a 23-year-old woman with a bone defect in the alveolar rim in the premaxillary sector of the upper jaw. Again, from the palatal side, a transport segment pedicled to the vestibular mucosa was cut, and a single Lead System distractor was placed.
Results: In both cases the height of the alveolar rim was successfully increased by 8 mm, allowing placement of three 12-mm implants in case 1, and two 12-mm implants in case 2.
Conclusions: We recommend a palatal approach and intraosseous distractors for alveolar distraction in the upper jaw.