Clinical Assessment of Peri-Implant Tissue Condition following Reconstruction in Non-Irradiated Jaws: An Observational Study

Abstract

Purpose: The objective of this study was to evaluate the state of peri-implant soft tissues in patients who underwent jaw resection followed by reconstruction using autogenous bone grafting, and subsequent rehabilitation with implant-supported prostheses.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study of 24 patients who underwent surgical reconstruction with autogenous free bone graft for maxilla or mandible and subsequently received implant-prosthetic rehabilitation between August 2020 and April 2023 were selected for assessment in this study. The measured parameters were analyzed in terms of their overall distribution. A total of 352 peri-implant sites of the 88 functional implants were clinically assessed. The assessment was done at the 3rd month after placing the implant, at beginning of prosthetic rehabilitation.

Results: Among the 88 dental implants placed in 20 patients, 0 implants were removed, although, 21 showed grade 1 level mobility. During the time period of assessment, the implants were not loaded. Therefore, all the implant sites were available for assessment in both removable as well as fixed type of treatment patients. Overall, in this study, the peri-implant soft tissue state was deemed successful for 43 implants, and for 41 implants results were deemed satisfactory. Nevertheless, according to the parameters considered at the time, 4 implants appeared to have compromised survival.

Conclusion: This study shows that in cases of those implants which were categorized under compromised survival, showed peri-implant tissue problems such as inadequately epithelized margins, deep pockets as well as bleeding on probing and at times suppuration. Even in cases of successfully placed implants predicted for good osseointegration, peri-implant tissue parameters can compromise the survival with the course of time. Within the constraints of the current study, it was shown that placing implants in bone flaps during jaw rehabilitation is a dependable method with a good survival rate.