Objectives: To evaluate buccal volume change after using a customized healing abutment with or without connective tissue grafts (CTG) in flapless maxillary immediate implant placement (IIP).
Materials and methods: The present study was designed as a randomized clinical trial (RCT). Patients treated with flapless maxillary IIP were allocated into two groups, both receiving a customized healing abutment, and additionally, the test group received a CTG. A cone-beam computerized tomography (CBCT) allowed to access the initial buccal bone thickness (BT). Digital impressions were taken prior to extractions (T0), 1 month (T1), 4 months (T2), and 12 months (T3) after implant insertion and superimposed with computer software allowing to compute variables related to buccal volume variation (BVv) and total volume variation (TVv) (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05060055).
Results: Thirty-two patients (mean age 48 ± 11 years), sixteen in each group, were evaluated after a 12-month period. After 1 year of treatment, no significant differences were found between groups, although in participants with BT ≤1 mm, control and test groups showed a BVv of -14.18 ± 3.49% and -8.30 ± 3.78%, respectively (p = .033). Regarding mucosa height variation variables, the control group showed approximately the triple vertical recession in both papillae.
Conclusions: The placement of a CTG was not capable of completely maintaining the initial peri-implant tissue architecture, although in thin-bone phenotypes, less dimensional changes are expected when a CTG was used.
Keywords: alveolar bone loss; connective tissue; dental implants; randomized controlled trial; three-dimensional imaging; treatment outcome; wound healing.
© 2023 The Authors. Clinical Oral Implants Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.