New Surgical Protocol to Create Interimplant Papilla: The Preliminary Results of a Case Series

The aim of this study was to introduce a new surgical technique to regenerate the papilla adjacent to multiple or single implants using a novel instrument and a new incision design. A total of 10 consecutively treated patients with maxillary anterior implant-supported provisional restorations and missing interproximal papillae received a subepithelial connective tissue graft. The recipient site was prepared with a buccal incision apical to the mucogingival junction and to the defective papilla, and a palatal incision, followed by buccolingual tunneling performed with a translingual curette (EBINA). A total of 10 sites were treated and evaluated pre- and postoperatively with the papilla score based on the Jemt classification. The final prosthesis was delivered 3 months after the papilla regeneration surgical procedure. An average improvement in papilla index score from 0.8 to 2.4 was found after an average follow-up period of 16.3 months. This case series demonstrated that interimplant papilla regeneration can be successful over a period of 11 to 30 months postloading. Long-term prospective studies on tissue stability and esthetic outcomes are needed to corroborate the findings in this study.