Soft tissue-related complications around anterior implants: commentary and clinical checklist

Implant-based rehabilitation is a clinical challenge, especially in the esthetic area. Numerous factors influence the outcome of the rehabilitation; however, the two main factors are the bone and soft-tissue deficiencies at the intended implant site. Peri-implant soft tissue complications can arise from a combination of factors that can be summarized as two categories: diagnostic errors and surgical planning management errors. Most of the complications can be corrected after each step of the treatment and even after the delivery of the prosthetic restoration with adequate soft tissue management in order to give the patient an esthetically pleasing outcome. The aims of this article were: to present the current literature, to propose a clinical checklist to guide clinicians in evaluating the prognosis of the treatment utilizing soft tissue grafting, and to illustrate a case series partially employing the proposed clinical checklist. The proposed checklist could be helpful in evaluating the prognosis of the treatment utilizing only soft tissue grafting. In clinical cases in which the prognosis is classified as good, soft tissue management could be a viable treatment option before attempting more radical procedures like implant removal.