Enhancing Implant Therapy

In this twelfth edition of Compendium's annual dental implant issue, our focus is on not just implants, but the reconstruction, and even regeneration, of dental tissues supporting implants. As clinicians know all too well, the dentition, including alveolar bone, gingiva, and teeth, is subject to breakdown over time. Regeneration, ie, the natural process of replacing or restoring damaged or missing cells and tissues to full function, has potential use in treating various injuries and diseases, including in the oral cavity.

For this special thematic issue, we've gathered a number of world-renowned clinicians to report on various aspects of both reconstruction and regeneration of oral hard and soft tissues. The outcome, we believe, is an impressive array of articles to aid clinicians in providing esthetically enhanced implant therapy.

The first continuing education (CE) article describes the treatment of anterior peri-implant soft-tissue dehiscences with a coronally advanced flap and connective tissue graft with submerged healing. Real-time, non-ionizing, high-frequency ultrasonography was used to assess the increase in soft-tissue thickness and the anatomy of the peri-implant structures at 1-year post-treatment. The second CE article discusses a hard- and soft-tissue restorative approach for esthetic implant treatment in the anterior maxilla.

In a retrospective study, the authors present the results of an evaluation of facial implant mucosal stability following immediate implant placement and provisionalization in extraction sockets with facial bone wall defects in the esthetic zone. Additionally, a case report describes a novel, minimally invasive technique to reconstruct class III sockets with simultaneous implant placement, and another clinical article presents an alternative means of stabilizing a resorbable collagen membrane for guided bone regeneration.

In short, this informative editorial lineup is aimed at helping clinicians improve implant esthetics-and peri-implant health-through tissue reconstruction and regeneration. Please enjoy the issue!

Sincerely,

Markus B. Blatz, DMD, PhD
Editor-in-Chief
markus.blatz@broadcastmed.com

Joseph Y. K. Kan, DDS, MS
Guest Editor