About Umbrella Screws
The basis of successful augmentation of bone is the generation of immobile space, the stabilization of the coagulum and the sustainable closure of soft tissues. Further factors for success besides general health are, first of all, the surgical time and gentle and precise surgical techniques. Volume can be generated by various approaches (bone blocks, mashes, stabilised membranes, or foils). Conventional tenting by micro osteosynthesis screws, described in the literature as the tent pole technique, has the disadvantage that parallel to the shrinkage of the bone substitute, the small heads of the screws may penetrate the soft tissue. Therefore, they are rather inappropriate for stabilizing bigger volumes of augmentation. To solve this problem, the UMBRELLA screws have been developed. The flat head of the screws has a diameter of 5 mm. They are suitable to tent the buccal contour of an alveola and to protect augmented areas from pressure from the lip, tongue in cheek. Fabricated in surgical steel, the diameter of the screw can be reduced to 1 mm and does not osseointegrate like titanium screws. With bone blocks, mashes or foils, which also need to be fixed, UMBRELLA screws reduce the costs. Exposure is a major problem in conventional augmentation techniques, causing at least partial loss of the augmented volume. In case of exposure, the UMBRELLA screw needs to be removed. The little defect will heal spontaneously by granulation. Even inexperienced surgeons will be able to handle this technique.
