Horizontal anchorage in the ascending ramus--a technical note.

The ascending ramus provides a volume of bone that can receive horizontal screws of large sizes in the retromolar area, between the internal and external oblique lines. This area is not prone to disuse resorption and the only vital structure to consider is the neurovascular bundle. In this article two systems that make use of this anatomic opportunity are presented. One is an intraoral distractor, used for mandibular lengthening by gradual distraction. The other is a screw anchor that provides absolute anchorage for orthodontic tooth movement.