Our objective was to calculate the amounts of neutrophil elastase and interleukin-1beta (IL-1) in the crevicular fluid of dental implants that were placed and restored immediately after extraction of teeth. The crevicular fluid of 11 patients was obtained before the teeth were extracted and during the early (days 1-10) and late (day 10 onwards) follow-up periods. Samples were analysed by kinetic assay for neutrophil elastase and by immunoassay of IL-1. The absolute values remained unchanged during the early (p=0.15; p=0.2) and late (p=0.4; p=0.5) follow-up periods. Paired analysis showed that the absolute values in the periodontal crevicular fluid were similar compared with the corresponding samples obtained during the early (p=0.5; p=0.3) and the late (p=0.6; p=0.2) follow-up periods. These findings suggest that placement of implants according to the immediate loading protocol, although it is an invasive procedure, does not provoke an inflammatory reaction.
2009 The British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.