The Root Submergence Technique at Single Tooth Sites to Short-Span Edentulous Sites: A Step-By-Step Partial Extraction Therapy Protocol
Submerging roots for ridge preservation was the earliest partial extraction therapy and has been described since the 1970s. Despite the approximately 47 animal and human studies published since, an updated and contemporary step-by-step protocol has not yet been provided. This technique report describes in detail how to manage submerged roots at single tooth sites and at short-span edentulous areas.

Buccal Sliding Palatal Pedicle Flap Technique for Wound Closure After Ridge Augmentation
One standard approach for wound closure after ridge augmentation is coronal flap advancement. Coronal flap advancement results in displacement of the mucogingival junction and reduction of the vestibulum. In the maxilla, a buccal sliding palatal flap can be applied for primary wound closure after ridge augmentation. The dissected part of the palatal connective tissue is left exposed, thus eliminating or reducing the amount of the coronal flap advancement respectively and increasing the amount of keratinized gingiva. In combination with guided soft tissue augmentation, this flap design enables a three-dimensional peri-implant soft tissue augmentation.

A Decade of the Socket-Shield Technique: A Step-by-Step Partial Extraction Therapy Protocol
Ten years have passed since Hürzeler and coworkers first introduced the socket-shield technique. Much has developed and evolved with regard to partial extraction therapy, a collective concept of utilizing the patient’s own tooth root to preserve the periodontium and peri-implant tissue. The specifications, steps, instrumentation, and procedures discussed in this article are the result of extensive experience in refining the socket-shield technique as we know it today. A repeatable, predictable protocol is requisite to providing tooth replacement in esthetic dentistry. Moreover, a standardized protocol provides a better framework for clinicians to report data relating to the technique with procedural consistency. This article aims to illustrate a reproducible, step-by-step protocol for the socket- shield technique at immediate implant placement and provisionalization for single-rooted teeth.

The Pontic-Shield: Partial Extraction Therapy for Implant Dentistry
Augmentive ridge preservation techniques aim to manage the postextraction ridge. The partial extraction of teeth may better preserve the ridge form by maintaining the bundle bone-periodontal tissues and preserve the ridge beneath dentures or fixed prostheses. The socket-shield technique entails preparing a tooth root section simultaneous to immediate implant placement and has demonstrated histologic and clinical results contributory to esthetic implant treatment. A retrospective 10-patient case series treating 14 partial extraction sites demonstrates how a modification of the socket-shield technique can successfully develop pontic sites and preserve the ridge.

The Socket-Shield Technique to Support the Buccofacial Tissues at Immediate Implant Placement
Tooth loss and subsequent ridge collapse continue to burden restorative implant treatment. Careful management of the post-extraction tissues is needed to preserve the alveolar ridge. In-lieu of surgical augmentation to correct a ridge defect, the socket-shield technique offers a promising solution. As the root submergence technique retains the periodontal attachment and maintains the alveolar ridge for pontic site development, this case report demonstrates the hypothesis that retention of a prepared tooth root section as a socket-shield prevents the recession of tissues buccofacial to an immediately placed implant. The socket-shield technique is a highly promising addition to clinical implant dentistry and this case report is among the first to demonstrate the procedure in clinical practice with a 1-year follow up.

The Aesthetic Smile: Diagnosis and Treatment
Until recently, dentists' and the public's concept of dental aesthetics was necessarily limited to alterations of the teeth themselves. Dentists concerned themselves with changing the position, the shape and the color of the teeth -basically restoring missing units or enhancing those already present. For the most part the dentist was forced to accept the pre-existing relationship between the three components of the smile; the teeth, the gingival scaffold and the lips.