Flapless Postextraction Socket Implant Placement, Part 2. The Effects of Bone Grafting and Provisional Restoration on Peri-implant Soft Tissue Height & Thickness - A Retrospective Study
This article presents the results of evaluating the changes in peri-implant soft tissue dimensions associated with immediate implant placement into anterior post-extraction sockets for four treatment groups: no BGPR(bone graft, no provisional restoration), PR (no bone graft, provisional restoration), BG (bone graft, no provisional restoration), and BGPR (bone graft, provisional restoration). The vertical distance of the peri-implant soft tissue was greater for grafted sites than for non-grafted ones. The facial soft tissue thickness at the gingival third was greater for grafted than for non-grafted sites and for sites with provisional restorations compared to sites without them, respectively. The net gain in soft tissue height and thickness was about 1mm. The increases in vertical and horizontal dimensions for grafted sites were between 0.5 and 1.0mm, as compared to sites with no bone graft and no provisional restoration.

Buccal Plate Regeneration with Immediate Postextraction Implant Placement and Restoration: Case Reports
In these reports, buccal bone plate regeneration was obtained through a flapless approach and immediate postextraction implant placement with a cancellous bone and collagen graft in the buccal gap.

Predictability of Simultaneous Implant Placement in the Severely Atrophic Posterior Maxilla: A 9-Year Longitudinal Experience Study of 2,132 Implants Placed into 731 Human Sinus Grafts
Simultaneous implant placement into sinus floor grafts can be a predictable treatment option for patients with at least 1 to 2 mm of vertical residual bone height when careful case planning and meticulous surgical techniques are used.

The Role of Technology in the Immediate Replacement of Missing Teeth - Part 2 of 2
Dr. Jack Krauser outlines a thorough review of the available state of the art digital technology that can be combined and utilized to plan and deliver immediate restorations in both partially and fully edentulous patients.

Techniques to Manage Emergence Profile and Cementation in Implant Dentistry
Dr. John Doerr discusses specific clinical techniques to efficiently manage the emergence profile of healing, temporary and final custom abutments in implant therapy in order to optimize esthetic results.

Ridge Expansion, GBR & Meshes: Decision Making in Clinical Practice
A variety of bone augmentation procedures are currently available at use to the clinician. Techniques of variable complexity can essentially yield favorable results. The choice of technique to utilize however, is often based on defect site presentation and operator comfort level. This presentation will focus on the use of ridge expansion, guided bone regeneration (GBR), and titanium mesh. Merits and indications of each technique will be discussed, and clinical cases will be presented that showcase the decision making process involved in treatment planning.

Challenges & Management of Peri-Implant Pink Esthetics in Anterior Implant Therapy
When considering implant therapy in the esthetic zone, replicating the natural soft tissue frame may present challenges for the treating clinician. This presentation will highlight different clinical scenarios in which the lack of hard and soft tissue volume may pose difficulties in achieving ideal peri-implant esthetics, in addition to available clinical strategies on how to manage and minimize hard and soft tissue deficiencies when dealing with implant therapy in the esthetic zone.

Conservative Treament of the Edentulous Mandible
This presentation includes a candid discussion of the oral health care needs of the approximately 40 million edentulous adults in the USA. Many of these patients cannot afford or are too debilitated to have extensive oral care. There are several extensive and very expensive treatments for these patients that are currently being heavily promoted by companies and the lay press.

Horizontal Augmentation Through the Ridge-Split Procedure: A Predictable Surgical Modality in Implant Reconstruction
The need for an adequate alveolar ridge width has been a long-standing principle in pre-prosthetic surgery. Since the introduction of root-form endosseous dental implants, the necessity of proper alveolar ridge width has become essential. In this presentation, the author concentrated on the ridge-split procedure (RSP) as a form of a ridge modification (widening or augmentation), the technique that offers many possibilities and has many advantages in oral pre-prosthetic implant reconstruction. There are many modifications of the RSP. This presentation is a description of classical ridge-split procedure in maxilla and mandible that has been successfully employed for many years in author’s surgical practice.