Extraction of a malpositioned maxillary anterior implant and simultaneous flapless ridge augmentation: a case report

Periimplantitis in a malpositioned maxillary anterior implant is one of the most challenging situations in implant dentistry. Since the regenerative treatment can often be unpredictable and have esthetic consequences such as soft tissue recession due to flap raising, extraction is sometimes recommended. In order to place a new implant after extraction, a bone regeneration procedure must be carried out. This implies raising a flap and therefore the risk of further interproximal gingival recession. In the case presented in this article, a hopeless implant at position 11 presented severe periimplantitis and soft tissue recession, which also affected the mesial part of tooth 12. Tooth 21 had a root canal treatment and a crown. After the implant extraction, a minimally invasive simultaneous bone regeneration and soft tissue graft procedure was performed to reconstruct the remaining ridge using xenograft, a collagen membrane, and a connective tissue graft (CTG). Ten months later, in order to improve the ridge profile, an augmentation procedure was carried out using a CTG. Three months later, an implant was placed and immediately loaded. Three months after loading, the right lateral incisor that still presented a mesial gingival recession was slowly extruded by orthodontic treatment until the papilla was symmetrical to the contralateral one. At the end of the orthodontic extrusion, an implant-supported crown was placed at position 11 and a tooth-supported crown delivered in place of tooth 21. A composite restoration was performed on tooth 12. One year later, the soft tissue level was almost symmetrical at incisor level and the periimplant bone level at implant 11 was stable.