Will A Paranasal-Premaxillary Implant Under My Nose Improve The Appearance After Losing Front Teeth?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Hi there , I’m 50 years old male ,interested in paranasal- premaxillary implant to improve my sunken area under my nose due to lost front teeth long time ago . Would like to hear from you about the process Thank you

A: Thank you for your inquiry and sending your picture and x-ray. For the majority of nasal base augmentation patients the use of a preformed ePTFE (Goretex) premaxillary-paranasal implant works just fine. While that is still an option for you the anatomic issue that you present with is the loss of the teeth and the resultant alveolar process atrophy that results. This makes the available soft tissue coverage over the implant thinner with a higher risk of implant extrusion/exposure. Ideally an autologous bone graft (rib) is better in these situations as your own tissues are more tolerant of this anatomic situation. But that may not be very appealing but it does offer a procedure of less postoperative. These are issues that merit more in depth discussion.