Effect of flap design on healing and osseointegration of dental implants

The purpose of this study was to evaluate soft tissue healing and osseointegration of dental implants after the use of vestibular incision or crestal incision flap designs during placement of the dental implant fixture. A split-mouth design was used in 10 patients. The vestibular flap technique was used for half the implant fixtures and the crestal incision for the other half. Postsurgical healing was monitored for 30 days, and osseointegration at second-stage surgery was evaluated. The short-term results suggest that the use of either the vestibular incision or the crestal incision technique did not affect overall clinical healing or osseointegration.