Chapter 2 provided an overview of the different types of lateral implants devised, introduced and employed over the past 30 years. The present chapter will provide the reader with the necessary background to understand the differences and commonalities of these designs, as well as their applications in clinical practice. Today it is almost impossible to draw a clear line between «disk» implants and BOI implants. Over the last few years in particular, the similarities between those designs have increased in various ways. The same development has also taken place in crestal implantology. While implants of the Diskimplant type are basal implants and while they take into account the concept of bicortical support, these rigid Diskimplants do not implement the concept of isoelasticity with the bone to the same extent of actual BOI implants with a skeletal design.
