Article:

Implant dentistry has become routine treatment in a growing number of general practices. The profession has generally acknowledged that this discipline is restoratively driven, not surgically driven. Despite the widespread application of implant dentistry, the vertical and horizontal parameters of implant dentistry are still frequently addressed after the implants have integrated, which can be too late because it reduces the predictability for successful restoration. Thus, these vertical and horizontal parameters should be known and followed preoperatively, not pre-restoratively. This article will review the most common vertical and horizontal measurements that the general dentist placing and restoring implants should know, and illustrate how using these parameters will provide more reliable outcomes.