Back

Volume 27 , Issue 6
November/December 2007
Pages 603-608

Use of the Natural Tooth for Soft Tissue Development: A Case Series

Marius Steigmann, DDS/Jason Cooke, DDS/Hom-Lay Wang, DDS, MSD

PMID: 18092455
DOI: 10.11607/prd.00.0777

The achievement of optimal esthetics around anterior dental implants has been a major challenge for many clinicians. The key to an esthetically pleasing appearance lies in the clinician’s ability to properly manage the soft tissue profile around dental implants. Hence, the purpose of this case report is to describe a new technique that uses the patient’s own natural tooth for the provisional implant restoration to develop soft tissue architecture that is almost identical to the patient’s original immediately after tooth extraction. Ten consecutively treated patients were included in this series. Clinical measurements included soft tissue height, papilla appearance, and probing pocket depths. Other parameters such as radiographic bone levels and quality-of-life ratings were also recorded. Results from this study showed that all patients achieved a normal or Class 1 papilla appearance similar to the original appearance of the natural tooth. All patients were very happy with the treatment outcome. This newly suggested approach for restoring an anterior implant can be valuable and esthetically pleasing. (Int J Periodontics Restorative Dent 2007;27:603–608.)

Full Text PDF File | Order Article

 

 

Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view PDF files. This is a free program available from the Adobe web site.
Follow the download directions on the Adobe web site to get your copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader.