MANDIBULAR FRACTURE AFTER ENDOSSEOUS IMPLANT PLACEMENT IN CONJUNCTIONWITH INFERIOR ALVEOLAR NERVE TRANSPOSITION - A PATIENT TREATMENT REPORT

A patient with a severely atrophic right posterior mandible had three endosseous implants placed in conjunction with transposition of the in ferior alveolar nerve. Three weeks following implant placement surgery , the patient experienced a spontaneous fracture of the mandible invol ving the two anterior implants. The two implants were removed, and the fracture was treated with open reduction and fixation with titanium m esh. The fracture healed, and the posterior implant integrated. This r eport suggests that the buccolingual and superior-inferior position of the mandibular canal can increase the possibility of mandibular fract ure by increasing the size of the buccal cortical plate that is remove d to expose the nerve during surgery.