Minimally invasive management of a socket shield technique complication: A clinical report

The socket shield technique has been used to optimize the esthetic outcome of anterior immediate implant treatment. However, complications have been reported, including internal or external shield exposure, implant failure, and infection. The key to the surgical management of shield exposure is to avoid a full-thickness flap because of the risk of losing soft tissue volume. For this patient, a flapless approach was used to extract the exposed root shield, followed by a simultaneous connective tissue graft. A satisfactory esthetic outcome was observed at the 20-month follow-up after the surgical intervention.