Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download

CAD/CAM - international magazine of digital dentistry

opinion _ short implants I Figs. 1–12_Radiographic long-term control helps maintain the implant’s bone/soft tissue stability. foritprovidesspacefortheinterdentalpapillaewith bony support even when an implant is contiguous toanotherimplantortooth.Theslopingshoulderde- signhasbeen,since1985,thebasisofasensiblebio- logical width and the origin of platform switching. The 360 degrees of universal abutment posi- tioning provides for the extraoral cementation of crowns; the use of the cementless and screwless Integrated Abutment Crown (IAC™)7 , the intraoral bonding of fixed bridges, which eliminates the need forcutting,indexingandsolderingofbridgeframe- works,multipleandeasyremovalofabutmentsover time;andtheslightaestheticrotationaladjustments during and prior to the seating of a restoration. _Clinical long-term results In the following long-term case description we can observe the stability of the crestal bone around the sloping shoulder of the plateau implant. Clini- cally, the soft tissue contour around the Integrated Abutment Crowns indicates a healthy and stable epithelial tissue. The single-tooth implant is a viable alternative for single tooth replacement.8 Single-tooth re- placement with endosseous implants has shown satisfactory clinical performance in different jaw locations. Minimal or no crestal bone resorption is con- sidered to be an indicator of the long-term success of implant restorations. Mean crestal bone loss ranging from 0.12 mm to 0.20 has been reported one year after the insertion of single-tooth implant restorations.9 After the first year, an additional 0.01 mm to 0.11 mm of annual crestal bone loss has beenreportedonsingle-toothimplantrestorations. Some implants demonstrate no crestal bone loss and/orcrestalbonegainafterinsertionofdefinitive restorations.10 Crestal bone gain has been documented on immediate and early loaded implants with a chemi- cally modified surface after one year of follow up.11 A six-year prospective study reported that 43.8 % of splinted Morse taper implants experienced some bone gain.12 Crestal bone gain has been document- ed around immediately loaded Bicon implants.13 Thefactorsthatleadtoperiimplantbonegainindif- ferent implant designs have not been investigated. It would be beneficial for the dental practitioner to understandwhatfactorsareassociatedwithcrestal bone gain on single-tooth implants after crown insertion. Radiographic long-term control also as a clinical observation of the soft tissue structures surrounding the abutment emergence profile can I 17CAD/CAM 2_2013 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 6Fig. 5 Fig. 7 Fig. 8 Fig. 9 Fig. 10 Fig. 11 Fig. 12