The patient had few remaining teeth (I). Of the two remaining posterior teeth, one was stable—the right molar —and the other—the left—loose. It was decided to include the stable right tooth in a pterygoid extension implant, and to retain the loose left tooth temporarily as posterior anchorage for a temporary splint. For this purpose, it was adequate. A gold coping was cemented over the strong molar, and a plastic coping was fabricated to fit over the coping. The anterior bridgework was completed with a cantilevered pontic on each side; the left molar extracted; and the plastic coping inserted over the right molar coping. The bone in both posterior quad-rants was then exposed for taking the bone impression needed to design the pterygoid extension implants, with that for the right side including another coping to fit over the molar. After the implants were inserted and the sites healed, the case was completed.

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