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22 I I case report _ piezosurgery Fig. 1a_Radiographic initial situation, first case. Fig. 1b_Clinical initial situation, first case. Fig. 1c_Intraoperative situation before explantation of implant 44, first case. implants3_2010 _Abstract In cases of moderate to severe atrophy in eden- tulous posterior areas of the lower jaw, diminished bone height between the alveolar crest and the mandibular canal may preclude placement of even the shortest implants. Repositioning of the inferior alveolar nerve has proven to be an excellent alter- native to augmentation procedures. Especially in conjunction with piezosurgery the lateral nerve transposition provides a viable, reliable and rela- tively secure surgical procedure. _Introduction The first account about inferior alveolar nerve repositioning was published in 1977 by Alling1 in the context of prosthetic rehabilitation of patients with severe atrophy and emergence of the mental nerveclosetothealveolarcrest.In1987,Jensenand Nock2 described the first inferior alveolar nerve transposition in conjunction with dental implant surgery. Up to now, the nerve transposition technique has developed to an excellent alternative to aug- mentation procedures for placement of dental im- plants in the lateral tooth area of the lower jaw. The lateralisation of the inferior alveolar nerve offers the following main advantages: _Implants of greater length can be inserted simul- taneously. _No bone grafting is needed. However, nerve repositioning is a complex pro- cedure, with a high risk of sensory disturbances.3 Since the introduction of an ultrasonic instru- mentationforbonecuttingin1975byHortonetal.4 ultrasound-based piezoelectric devices have been applied increasingly often in head and neck recon- structive surgery, oncological cranio-maxillo-fa- cialsurgery,dysgnathicsurgery,dentalsurgeryand even in hand surgery.5,6 SubsequenttoapublicationofVercellotti7 inthe year 2000 about piezoelectric oral surgery this methodmoreandmorehasbeenusedindentalim- plantology. The also as piezosurgery known tech- nique is used in oral surgery to section hard tissues without damaging adjacent soft tissues. Piezoelectric repositioning of the inferior alveolar nerve Review and two case reports Author_ Dr Burghard Peter, Austria Fig. 1b Fig. 1cFig. 1a