Implant Site Development by Orthodontic Forced Eruption for Esthetic Restoration of Adjacent Implants

Despite recent advancements in ridge preservation techniques, complete tissue regeneration remains difficult to achieve when managing multiple tooth loss in the esthetic zone. Guided bone regeneration has been shown to be effective in creating sufficient bone support, but post-surgical complications including soft tissue deficiencies have been reported. Obtaining "natural" esthetic results has proven challenging, especially when restoring adjacent implants in patients with a high smile line. The addition of extrusion and palatal positioning of the implant facilitates ridge preservation surgery as well as the esthetic outcome, but requires an additional treatment phase devoted to orthodontics.

A healthy 43-year-old female with a longstanding history of smoking presented with terminal periodontal disease on teeth #7 and #8 together with a wide diastema between teeth #8 and #9. Comprehensive dental treatment included smoking cessation, oral hygiene instruction, full-mouth scaling and root planing, orthodontic realignment, and implant placement to manage those teeth with a hopeless prognosis. Orthodontic therapy included forced eruption of teeth #7 and #8 to create optimum implant receptor sites. One year after prosthetic restoration, interproximal papillae height proved stable and similar to the contralateral side.

A multidisciplinary approach proved beneficial in achieving an improved esthetic outcome in a challenging situation in implant therapy.