Rehabilitation of a patient with cleft lip and palate with an extremely edentulous atrophied posterior maxilla using zygomatic implants: case report.

OBJECTIVE This case report describes the clinical and surgical management of a patient with a unilateral alveolar cleft and associated extremely atrophied totally edentulous maxilla. METHOD Two zygomatic implants and four endosseous oral implants were placed under general anesthesia in a compromised maxilla to rehabilitate a 33-year-old patient with cleft lip and palate. The two specially designed zygomatic implants were utilized to avoid the need for bone grafting in the patient. The final prosthetic rehabilitation was an esthetic and functional maxillary overdenture prosthesis supported by implants. RESULTS Preliminary results have shown how dental prostheses supported by endosseous implants in grafted alveolar cleft are a reliable possibility in the dental rehabilitation of this malformation. CONCLUSION The use of zygomatic implants may be considered a reliable alternative to more resource-demanding techniques such as bone grafting in patients with cleft palate.