Saving teeth: Revisited. Esthetic improvement and long-term periodontal stability of a pathologic tooth migration case: An 84-month follow-up.

INTRODUCTION: Advances in implant dentistry, often influence our clinical treatment planning and steer us as periodontists from our fundamental values of preserving teeth. Pathologic tooth migration (PTM) of maxillary anterior teeth is a common sequela of periodontitis in patients and results in significant esthetic and functional problems. Patients' growing concern about the esthetics of their teeth and their fears of losing teeth are often reasons for them to seek treatment. We commonly assign a hopeless prognosis to these pathologically migrated teeth because of the significant loss of periodontal support and go with the "safer" choice of replacing them with implants. The purpose of this case report is to present the long-term (7-year) periodontal stability of compromised teeth and to emphasize the successful outcomes achieved when orthodontics, non-surgical periodontal, and restorative treatments are combined. METHODS AND RESULTS: A 38-year-old, otherwise healthy male with compromised function and esthetics, PTM, periodontal disease, and missing teeth presented to our clinic. Primary treatment objectives were to 1) eliminate the periodontal inflammation and 2) restore and stabilize the occlusion by employing non-surgical periodontal treatment, adult orthodontics, and prosthodontics. Following interdisciplinary treatment, clinical and radiographic re-evaluation revealed significant clinical attachment gain, reduction in tooth mobility, favorable esthetics, and better overall prognosis. At an 84-month follow-up, the patient was periodontally healthy and retained his natural dentition. CONCLUSIONS: Interdisciplinary collaboration along with patient compliance may increase the longevity of periodontally compromised teeth and improve esthetics for periodontitis patients who suffer from PTM. Such long-term favorable outcomes reaffirm the value of classic periodontal treatment and the success of multidisciplinary treatment to save teeth as a viable alternative to the extraction of teeth and the placement of implant retained restorations.

A novel fully tapered, self-cutting tissue-level implant: non-inferiority study in minipigs.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the osseointegration and crestal bone level maintenance of a novel fully tapered self-cutting tissue-level implant for immediate placement (test) compared to a clinically established tissue-level implant (control) in moderate bone quality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Test and control implants were compared in 3 groups, i.e., small-, medium-, and large-diameter implants in an edentulous mandibular minipig model with moderate bone quality after 12 weeks of healing. Histometrically derived bone-to-implant contact (BIC) and first bone-to-implant contact (fBIC) were subjected to statistical non-inferiority testing. Maximum insertion torque values in artificial bone were assessed for comparison. RESULTS: BIC values for the tests and control implants for all 3 diameters were comparable and non-inferior: small diameter (61.30 ± 10.63% vs. 54.46 ± 18.31%) (p=0.99), medium diameter (60.91 ± 14.42 vs. 54.68 ± 9.16) (p=0.55), and large diameter (45.60 ± 14.67 vs. 52.52 ± 14.76) (p=0.31). fBIC values for test implants were higher and non-inferior compared to control implants in all three groups. Test implants further showed distinctly higher maximum insertion torque values compared to control implants. CONCLUSION: The investigated novel tissue-level implant is able to achieve high levels of primary and secondary implant stability under simultaneous preservation of crestal bone levels. This qualifies the studied implant as an attractive candidate for immediate placement in bone of limited quality. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This pilot pre-clinical study investigated a novel tissue-level implant for immediate placement. With the aim of translating the studied prototype into clinical application pre-clinical models, procedures and controls have been chosen with the aim of reflecting its future clinical indication and use.