Bucco-lingual crestal bone changes after immediate and delayed implant placement

Area of Science:

• Dental Implantology
• Oral Surgery
• Periodontology

Background:

• Immediate dental implant placement offers advantages but faces challenges with residual gap filling.
• Existing barrier and grafting techniques for gap filling yield variable results.
• The timing of implant placement is hypothesized to be crucial for successful bone healing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze and compare bone healing and coronal bone remodeling around dental implants.
• To evaluate outcomes for implants placed immediately versus those placed 6-8 weeks after tooth extraction.

Main Methods:

• 35 submerged implants were placed within alveolar confines, creating circumferential defects.
• Implants were stabilized apically, with no coronal bone contact; no membranes or grafting materials were used.
• Primary flap closure was performed; bucco-lingual bone width was measured at implant placement and second-stage surgery.

Main Results:

• All peri-implant defects were filled by second-stage surgery in both immediate and delayed implant groups.
• Coronal bone remodeling resulted in a narrowed bucco-lingual width, clinically similar between groups.
• Delayed implants showed smaller initial bucco-lingual width, suggesting remodeling may begin post-extraction.

Conclusions:

• Circumferential defects can heal successfully without guided bone regeneration (GBR) or grafting materials.
• The procedure was complication-free, likely due to the absence of barriers or grafts.
• While histological healing may involve connective tissue, clinical outcomes were successful, with implications for esthetic timing.