RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the aesthetic outcome of single implants in extraction sockets and healed ridges of the anterior maxilla by means of the pink aesthetic score/white aesthetic score (PES/WES) index. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study was based on data from 103 patients (43 males, 60 females) aged 24-65 years (mean age 41.4 ± 13.8 years) who had been successfully treated with a single implant in the anterior maxilla, in four different clinical centres. Forty-two patients (mean age 46.5 ± 15.1 years) were treated with a single implant in a fresh post-extraction socket (immediate implant treatment, IIT), while 61 patients (mean age 38.0 ± 11.8 years) were treated with a single implant in a healed site (conventional implant treatment, CIT). Two independent calibrated examiners applied the PES/WES index to the 103 single-tooth restorations, respectively 3 months and 3 years after implant placement. RESULTS: A few biological (4.8%) and prosthetic (8.7%) complications were reported. Both IIT and CIT yielded satisfactory aesthetic outcomes. At the delivery of the final restoration, a PES/WES score of 16.6 ± 2.6 and 15.7 ± 3.0 was reported for IIT and CIT, respectively: this difference was not statistically significant. A higher decrease in the PES/WES score was observed with CIT over time. At 3 years, a PES/WES score of 16.4 ± 2.8 and 15.2 ± 3.3 was reported for IIT and CIT, respectively: this difference was statistically significant. IIT seemed to yield better aesthetic outcomes in young patients (≤30 years), with implants placed in central incisor/cuspid areas, in the presence of bone contouring. CONCLUSIONS: Both immediate and conventional single-implant treatment in the anterior maxilla can yield satisfactory aesthetic outcomes, when performed by experienced clinicians in well-selected cases. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.