Patient-Centered Implant Treatment

The objective of this study was to observe what influences the differences in implant systems and their configuration and conditions at insertion of implant would cause in change of soft tissue over time after setting of crown, and consequently to clarify what type of clinical treatment should be applied in order to minimize invasion to patients as well as achieve maximum results. This study was conducted through implant-prosthetic treatments with the cases of single tooth loss in maxillary anterior area. The lengths of clinical crown were measured both at the time of setting crown and after follow-up of 4.5 years in average. Used were 60 implants, composed of 26 of Tapered Screw-Vent, 22 of Straumann and 12 of Ankylos. In the cases with Ankylos, whose configuration is of platform switching, the clinical crowns turned out to have got longer only by 0.3mm, while that with Tapered Screw-Vent by 1.1mm and that with Straumann by 1.3mm.Furthermore, the cases with Tapered Screw-Vent were divided into 2 groups according to the conditions of insertion. One group was that the implants were inserted at an angle to the axis of natural teeth and on the labial side, and the other was that the implants were inserted vertically and on the palatal side. The variations were 1.9mm longer in the former group and 0.3mm in the latter respectively. The results obtained, in spite of the use of one implant system, varied according to the seating conditions, and with the cases with Tapered Screw-Vent seated vertically, the variation of soft tissue was as quite small as the cases with Ankylos. It indicates that a choice of appropriate implant system and the consideration about the conditions of implant insertion are significant in order to maintain satisfactory long-term esthetic results.