The influence of platform switching in dental implants. A literature review

The platform switching concept involves the reduction of the restoration abutment diameter with respect to the diameter of the dental implant. In 1991, dental implants of 5 and 6 mm diameter platforms were introduced. However, matching-diameter prosthetic abutments were not available. These implants were restored with "standard"-diameter prosthetic components (4.1 mm). Long-term follow up around these wide-platforms showed higher levels of bone preservation. In time, it has been called platform switching. The first case report applying this concept was indexed in MedLine in 2005.

The aim of this article is to carry out a literature review of articles which deal with the influence of this modified platform in hard and soft oral tissues. All papers involving "platform switching" that are indexed in MedLine and published in English were used. Clinical cases, experimental and non-experimental studies were included, as well as literature reviews.

In our search, we found: 16 clinical series or single clinical cases, 10 test and control studies, 9 experimental studies and 3 reviews.

All papers written by different researchers show an improvement in perimplant bone preservation. Further long-term studies are necessary to confirm these results. The articles consulted refer to the biomechanical behavior of the abutment-implant complex in response to occlusal loading, the maintenance of crestal bone height and the peculiar repositioning of the biological space.