Aesthetic gingival management: Preservation of the anatomical structures and the gingival aesthetics by immediate implant-insertion after loss of anterior teeth and premolars—Results of a 5-year prospective study with 348 inserted one-phase implants

Implant insertion is an alternative to classical treatment with bridges after tooth extraction or traumatic tooth loss in the anterior and premolar region of the upper and lower jaw. Nevertheless both types of prosthetic treatment inhere major gingival aesthetic pitfalls by physiological vertical and horizontal resorption. Aim of the study was to investigate if the immediate insertion of root analogue single-stage implants and prosthetic treatment could prevent gingival recessions and bone resorption thus keeping the natural gingival aesthetics untouched. Between 2003 and 2006, 348 root analogue Q1-Implants (TRINON Karlsruhe GmbH/Germany) were inserted in 342 patients’s premolar and molar regions immediately after tooth extraction or traumatic tooth loss and treated with provisional resin crowns. The observation period with recurring 6-month clinical and radiographic check-ups was a minimum of 5 years. Of 348 inserted implants 4 (1.15%) were lost resulting in an overall success rate of 98.85%. In the first 12 weeks after surgery a mean recession of the buccal gingival margin of 0.2 mm (SD 0.34) could be detected, after final prosthetic treatment an overall mean recession of 0.2 mm (SD 0.13) within the survey period. Immediate implant insertion of root analogue single stage implants and immediate prosthetic treatment with provisional resin crowns after minimal invasive tooth extraction seems to be appropriate to prevent bone resorptions of the buccal alveolar crest and the recessions of the gingiva and papillae and thus suggests to be the preferable treatment to keep the natural gingival and papillary aesthetics untouched preventing further traumatic surgical gingival reconstructions.