Conservative Socket Regeneration with Buccal Wall Defect Using Guided Tissue

Progressive alveolar bone resorption after tooth extraction may lead to surgical and prosthetic-driven difficulties, especially when deciding to use a dental implant to replace the extracted tooth. This case report discusses an irreparable lower left second premolar tooth with a periodontal lesion on the buccal side. A preservative tooth extraction was performed. Then, the socket was grafted with bovine bone, a collagen membrane was placed between the buccal bone and the attached gingiva, covering the bone dehiscence buccally, and the socket without a flap was raised. After a 6-month healing period, there was minimal socket width resorption and a shallow buccal vestibule. The implant was placed with high primary stability and sufficient buccal plate thickness. In conclusion, this guided tissue regeneration technique can minimize alveolar bone resorption in a socket with buccal dehiscence, but technical difficulties and shallowing of the buccal vestibule still exist.