A method for stabilizing a cervical spine segment includes implanting a respective uncinate joint stabilizer into each uncinate joint of the cervical spine segment to stabilize the uncinate joints and thereby stabilize the cervical spine segment. A system for stabilizing a cervical spine segment includes a pair of uncinate joint stabilizers for stabilizing a respective pair of uncinate joints of the cervical spine segment, wherein each uncinate joint stabilizer is elongated along a lengthwise dimension and configured for placement in the respective uncinate joint with the lengthwise dimension substantially oriented along an anterior-to-posterior direction of the cervical spine segment, and wherein each uncinate joint stabilizer has height in a heightwise dimension orthogonal to the lengthwise dimension and the height is configured to define spacing of the respective uncinate joint.
