Stability of the mucosal topography around single-tooth implants and adjacent teeth: 1-year results

This study evaluated the soft tissue stability around 10 single-tooth implants. All cases were treated following the same protocol, which included guided bone regeneration and connective tissue grafting. One year after prosthesis insertion the soft tissue shrinkage on the buccal side of the implant crown was 0.6 mm on average. The soft tissue volume in the papilla area increased on average by 0.375 mm, and none of the papillae lost volume.     

Gingival papilla dimensions in anterosuperior regions adjacent to single-tooth implants

This study compared the dimensions of gingival papillae in anterosuperior areas presenting at natural teeth (teeth sites) or single-tooth implants adjacent to natural teeth (implant-tooth sites) by analyzing determined distances. A total of 45 teeth and 46 implant-tooth sites were carefully selected. Clinical evaluation consisted of visual and quantitative analyses with millimeter grids on radiographs. Implant-tooth sites showed a smaller gingival papilla dimension than tooth sites (P < .01). Both evaluated distances (contact point to bone crest and between the roots of adjacent teeth or implant platform to root of adjacent tooth) in all groups significantly influenced the presence/absence of gingival papillae (P < .01).     

Tactile sensibility of single-tooth implants and natural teeth

AIM: The purpose of this randomized split-mouth clinical trial was to determine the active tactile sensibility between single-tooth implants and opposing natural teeth and to compare it with the tactile sensibility of pairs of natural teeth on the contralateral side in the same mouth (intraindividual comparison). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The hypothesis was that the active tactile sensibilities of the implant side and control side are equivalent. Sixty two subjects (n=36 from Bonn, n=26 from Bern) with single-tooth implants (22 anterior and 40 posterior dental implants) were asked to bite on narrow copper foil strips varying in thickness (5-200 microm) and to decide whether or not they were able to identify a foreign body between their teeth. Active tactile sensibility was defined as the 50% threshold of correct answers estimated by means of the Weibull distribution. RESULTS: The results obtained for the interocclusal perception sensibility differed between subjects far more than they differed between natural teeth and implants in the same individual [implant/natural tooth: 16.7+/-11.3 microm (0.6-53.1 microm); natural tooth/natural tooth: 14.3+/-10.6 microm (0.5-68.2 microm)]. The intraindividual differences only amounted to a mean value of 2.4+/-9.4 microm (-15.1 to 27.5 microm). The result of our statistical calculations showed that the active tactile sensibility of single-tooth implants, both in the anterior and posterior region of the mouth, in combination with a natural opposing tooth is similar to that of pairs of opposing natural teeth (double t-test, equivalence margin: +/-8 microm, P<0.001, power >80%). Hence, the implants could be integrated in the stomatognathic control circuit.     

Effect of teeth with periradicular lesions on adjacent dental implants

OBJECTIVES: It is generally accepted that dental implants should not be placed in infected sites. However, the effect of periradicular infections of natural teeth on adjacent osseointegrated implants is less understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate effects of periradicular lesions on osseointegration of existing implants.Study design Forty titanium solid root-form implants were placed close to premolars in dogs. After healing following implant placement, the adjacent premolars were treated in 1 of 4 ways: group A, no treatment of the adjacent premolar; group B, induction of a periradicular lesion followed by nonsurgical root canal therapy of the premolar; group C, induction of a periradicular lesion followed by nonsurgical root canal therapy of the premolar and surgical detoxification of the implant surface; and group D, induction of periradicular lesion and no treatment of the tooth. After 7(1/2) months, block sections were prepared and the percentage of osseointegration was analyzed histomorphometrically. RESULTS: The average integration for implants in groups A-B was 54%, 74%, 56%, and 68%, respectively. One-way analysis of variance demonstrated no difference between the 4 groups ( P =.518). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that teeth with periradicular lesions do not adversely affect adjacent titanium solid root-form implants.     

Dimensions of hard and soft tissue around adjacent,compared with single-tooth,zirconia implants

Preservation or regeneration of the papilla has always been a challenge around consecutive implants or with implants next to teeth, and many studies have evaluated the papilla’s behaviour and patterns based on surgical technique and prosthetic design, though evidence about its behaviour around zirconia implants is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate papilla behaviour between implants and teeth (tooth-implant group) and between consecutive implants (implant–implant group). Ninety patients with 122 zirconia implants (Straumann^® PURE Ceramic Implant) were examined at the one-year follow up. We measured the effect of the distance: first from the base of the contact point of the crowns to the contact with bone at the implant site (D1); secondly, to the contact with the bone at the neighbouring tooth or implant site (D2); and thirdly on the papillary deficit (D3). In both the tooth-implant group and the implant–implant group, D1 and D2 correlated significantly with the papillary deficit (D3), whereas D2 was the major determinant factor (Spearman’s rho = 0.60). In both groups, when D1 and D2 were <6 mm, the papilla was present every time. The papillary deficit was significantly greater in the tooth-implant group than in the implant–implant group (p = 0.048). We conclude that the ideal distance from the base of the contact point to the bone contact at the implant and to the bone contact at the adjacent tooth in both groups is <6 mm. The height of the bone on the teeth adjacent to implants has a significant impact on that of the papilla.     

Connecting implants to teeth

Osseointegrated implants have proven to have a high degree of success in the edentulous arches. This success has been replicated in partially edentulous arches. When natural teeth are present, it can be tempting to fabricate restorations using support from both implants and natural teeth. The mechanism of attachment and the perceived problem of the differential support provided by the implant and the tooth have been discussed by many authors.     

Guided tissue healing for single-tooth implants

The emergence profile of a single-tooth implant abutment has a significant effect on the esthetics of the final restoration. Most healing abutments are cylindrical, unlike the nonround contours of the natural teeth being replaced. The resulting peri-implant sulcus is round rather than having the correct anatomic cross-sectional shape. This disparity may compromise the ideal emergence profile of the final restoration. This article presents a technique in which a custom abutment and provisional crown or the definitive restoration can be placed at second-stage surgery to guide tissue healing to optimum form and esthetics.     

Accidental damage to teeth adjacent to crown-prepared abutment teeth

Three hundred and seventy casts with 652 registrable proximal surfaces adjacent to crown preparations were examined for iatrogenic damage to hard tissue surfaces. The incidence of damage was high and recommendations for prevention and treatment of such damage are made.     

An alternative method for restoring single-tooth implants

BACKGROUND: Having laboratory technicians prepare soft-tissue casts and implant abutments with or without concomitant removable temporary prostheses during the restorative phase of single-tooth replacement is an accepted practice. It can, however, result in functional and esthetic intraoral discrepancies. CASE DESCRIPTION: Single-tooth implants can be restored with crowns (like those for natural teeth) fabricated at a dental laboratory on casts obtained from final impressions of prepared implant abutments. In the case reported, the restorative dentist restored the patient's single-tooth implant after taking a transfer impression. He constructed a cast simulating the peri-implant soft tissue with final impression material and prepared the abutment on this model. His dental assistant then fabricated a fixed provisional restoration on the prepared abutment. At the patient's next visit, the dentist torqued the prepared abutment onto the implant, took a final impression and inserted the provisional restoration. A crown was made conventionally at the dental laboratory and cemented in place at the following visit. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: This alternative method for restoring single-tooth implants enhances esthetics by more accurately simulating marginal gingival architecture. It also improves function by preloading the implant through fixed temporization after the dentist, rather than the laboratory technician, prepares the abutment to the dentist's preferred contours.     

A review of factors influencing treatment planning decisions of single-tooth implants versus preserving natural teeth with nonsurgical endodontic therapy

One of the major issues confronting the contemporary dental clinician is the treatment decision between extracting a tooth with placement of a dental implant or preserving the natural tooth by root canal treatment. The factors that dictate the correct selection of one procedure over the other for each particular case are not yet established by randomized controlled studies. The aim of this review is to evaluate key factors allowing the clinician to make clinical decisions on the basis of the best evidence and in the patient's best interests. General considerations are discussed that will help the reader analyze clinical studies focused on this problem. Importantly, the major studies published to date indicate that there is no difference in long-term prognosis between single-tooth implants and restored root canal-treated teeth. Therefore, the decision to treat a tooth endodontically or to place a single-tooth implant should be based on other criteria such as prosthetic restorability of the tooth, quality of bone, esthetic demands, cost-benefit ratio, systematic factors, potential for adverse effects, and patient preferences. It can be concluded that endodontic treatment of teeth represents a feasible, practical, and economical way to preserve function in a vast array of cases and that dental implants serve as a good alternative in selected indications in which prognosis is poor.     

Transitioning patients from teeth to implants

One major obstacle to treatment with implants is the transitional phase between a tooth supported occlusion and an implant supported occlusion. This is of particular concern when a patient with a failing dentition has not worn a removable prosthesis before and is planning to have a reconstruction supported by implants.     

Clinical and radiographic evaluation of the papilla level adjacent to single-tooth dental implants. A retrospective study in the maxillary anterior region.

BACKGROUND: The regeneration of gingival papillae after single-implant treatment is an area of current investigation. This study was designed to determine: 1) whether the distance from the base of the contact point to the crest of the bone would correlate with the presence or absence of interproximal papillae adjacent to single-tooth implants, and 2) whether the surgical technique at uncovering influences the outcome. METHODS: A clinical and radiographic retrospective evaluation of the papilla level around single dental implants and their adjacent teeth was performed in the anterior maxilla in 26 patients restored with 27 implants. Six months after insertion, 17 implants were uncovered with a standard technique, while 10 implants were uncovered with a technique designed to generate papilla-like formation around dental implants. Fifty-two papillae were available for clinical and radiographic evaluation. The presence or absence of papillae was determined, and the effects of the following variables were analyzed: the influence of the 2 surgical techniques; the vertical relation between the papilla height and the crest of bone between the implant and adjacent teeth; the vertical relation between the papilla level and the contact point between the crowns of the teeth and the implant; and the distance from the contact point to the crest of bone. RESULTS: When the measurement from the contact point to the crest of bone was 5 mm or less, the papilla was present almost 100% of the time. When the distance was > or = 6 mm, the papilla was present 50% of the time or less. The mean distance between the crest of bone and the most coronal papilla level (interproximal soft tissue height) was 3.85 mm (SD = 1.04). When comparing the conventional and modified surgical technique, the relation shifted from 3.77 mm (SD = 1.01) to 4.01 mm (SD = 1.10), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: These results clearly show the influence of the bone crest on the presence or absence of papillae between implants and adjacent teeth. The data also show a positive influence for the modified surgical technique, aimed at reconstructing papillae at the implant uncovering.     

Immediately loaded anterior single-tooth implants: two cases

Immediate loading of implants into fresh extraction sockets has the advantage of decreasing the period of healing, reducing the resorption of the alveolar bone, and achieving optimal esthetic results. These cases reveal the clinical success of immediate loaded single-tooth implants placed in fresh extraction sites.     

Replacement of adjacent missing anterior teeth with scalloped implants: a case report.

As the biological width is established around neighboring implants, there is a flattening of the interimplant bone and a change in the position of the soft tissue. As a result, a normal progression of papilla from natural teeth through the adjacent implant area is lost. This presentation describes various techniques and strategies to improve the aesthetic outcome of anterior implant restorations, together with the use of a scalloped implant designed to sustain the interdental bony peaks, and in doing so, maintain the interimplant papillae.     

Transitioning patients: teeth to implants

The transition of patients from a dentate state to an implant-supported restoration requires significant planning. Traditionally, protocols have included the extraction of teeth and interim use of a removable prosthesis. Newer protocols include approaches to decrease the period of time a patient is required to use a traditional denture. The authors' purpose is to outline options and provide clinical examples when transitioning patients from natural dentition to an implant-supported prosthesis.