Factors that influence the position of the peri-implant soft tissues: a review

The implantological rehabilitation of the anterior sector is one of the most demanding and complex treatments due to the necessity of obtaining an optimum esthetic result. At the level of the soft tissues, it involves obtaining the complete formation of the papilla and creating a harmonic contour of the gingival margin.

A bibliographical review has been carried out on the factors that influence the final position of the soft tissues.

A search has been carried out in the Pubmed database of articles written in English and Spanish. Articles that presented a clinical series of less than five patients and a monitoring of less than one year were excluded.

At the level of the papilla, there are two decisive factors that play an influential role: the formation of the biological width and the distance between the alveolar crest and the contact point. The position of the gingival margin depends mainly of the height and width of the facial bone, as well as on the biotype. The surgical technique, as well as certain prosthodontics aspects related to the implant, can influence the final position of the soft tissues.

Although, today we know much more about the factors that influence the position of the soft tissues, there are still certain aspects that should be studied more in-depth, for example the influence of the micro and macro-structure of the implant in the position of the soft tissues.