Classification of Lekholm and Zarb for Bone Shape and Quality Relevant to Dental Implant

Lekholm and Zarb classified maxillary and mandibular bone in an edentulous person. This can impact the stability of a dental implant.

Measures:

(1) bone shape or volume

(2) bone density or quality

Alveolar Ridge	Basal Bone	Code for Bone Volume/Shape
no or mild resorption (most remains)	no resorption	A
moderate resorption	no resorption	B
advanced resorption	no resorption	C
none remains	some resorption	D
none remains	extreme resorption	E

Compact Bone	Trabecular Bone	Code for Bone Density/Quality
homogenous compact bone throughout the entire jaw	small amount of dense trabecular bone	1
thick layer of compact bone	core of dense trabecular bone	2
thin rim of cortical bone	care of dense trabecular bone	3
thin rim of cortical bone	core low density trabecular bone	4

The final designation is expressed by combining the two codes:

(bone shape code) / (bone quality code)

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