Caroliene Meijndert

60 Chapter 4 Abstract Aim : To assess the clinical, radiographic and aesthetic performance of bone level tapered implants placed in healed sites in the maxillary aesthetic zone during a one-year follow-up. Material and methods: Thirty participants (15 male, 15 female, mean age 38 years) with a single tooth diastema that had healed without an alveolar ridge preservation procedure, for at least 3 months, received a bone level tapered implant. Buccal bone augmentation procedures were performed at implant placement if the buccal bone wall was less than 2 mm. A provisional restoration was connected after a healing phase of 3 months. A definitive restoration was placed 3 months after the provisional restoration. Implant stability, peri-implant hard and soft tissue health, esthetics and patient-centered outcomes were recorded. Results : All the placed implants demonstrated good stability immediately after implant placement. A buccal bone augmentation procedure was needed in 77% of the cases. The median implant stability quotient value was 73 [68;76] at implant placement and had increased to 79 [76;81] when the definitive restoration was inserted (p<0.005). All the patients attended the follow-up 1 year after placement of the definitive restoration and none had lost an implant. The mean marginal bone loss was 0.07±0.10 mm; mid-buccal mucosa level recession was 0.14±0.40 mm; and the median Pink Esthetic Score and White Esthetic Score were 6 [4;7 interquartile range] and 8 [7;8.3 interquartile range], respectively. The participants’ mean overall satisfaction was 90.1±6.5 on a 0-100 Visual Analogue Scale. No complications occurred. Conclusion : It can be concluded from a 1-year follow-up that treatment with the bone level tapered implant system resulted in good implant stability, healthy peri-implant hard and soft tissues, satisfying esthetics and good patient-centered outcomes.