Inferior alveolar nerve repositioning with simultaneous iliac bone autogenous graft for treatment of atrophic posterior mandibular ridge

Patients with tooth loss in the posterior mandible,requiring dental implantation, mayalso require other simultaneous surgical procedures due to severe atrophy, such as nerve lateralization. However, it is difficult to achieve the appropriate width and height in this area in patients with atrophic ridges. In the present case, we performed inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) repositioning and iliac bone grafting simultaneously to achieve satisfactory width and height in an edentulous adult patient with insufficient bone height and width in the posterior mandible. The follow-up did not indicateany nerve damage, anda significant increase was observed in the bone height, which facilitated successful implantation. This study showed the feasibility of IAN repositioning withsimultaneous iliac bone autogenous grafting for thetreatment of atrophic posterior mandibular ridges. However, further studies are required to confirm the safety and efficacy of this combinational method. Keywords: Alveolar bone loss; Mandibular nerve; Nerve repositioning; Iliac bone; Autografts.