Esthetic therapy with standard and scalloped implant designs: the five biologic elements for success

The field of implant dentistry has grown significantly in recent years. Balancing natural-looking esthetics with long-term function, however, remains a challenging task. The main focus of implant dentistry is on improving the survival rate, simplifying the treatment, improving the esthetic outcome, and reducing the treatment time. Developing a natural contour and anatomically dimensioned soft-tissue margin is critical to attaining an esthetic implant restoration. This article discusses the five elements to achieve natural implant esthetics: bone foundation, implant design and placement, soft-tissue profile, prosthetic tissue support, and ceramic art design.