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Timing of Soft Tissue Grafting Following Immediate Implant Placement

U

University Ghent

Status

Enrolling

Conditions

Bone Resorption

Treatments

Procedure: Soft tissue grafting

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05537545
ONZ-2022-0258

Details and patient eligibility

About

Patients undergoing single immediate implant placement (IIP) in the premaxilla will be invited to participate in this randomized controlled trial (RCT). Prior to surgery, a small- field low-dose cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) is taken to verify the integrity of the facial bone wall and an adequate amount of apical and palatal bone availability for implant anchorage.

In all of the patients, a connective tissue graft (CTG) will be harvested and inserted into the buccal mucosa to increase soft tissue thickness around the immediately installed implant. However, included patients will be randomly allocated to either receive the CTG immediately after implant installation (Immediate soft tissue grafting, ISG = control group) or 3 months after implant installation (Delayed soft tissue grafting, DSG = test group).

Forty sealed envelopes are prepared for that purpose, of which 20 are internally labeled as "DSG" and 20 as "ISG". Following IIP, a sealed envelope will be opened to reveal the treatment concept In both groups, a cutting implant is installed in an optimal 3D position. Socket grafting is performed with deproteinized bovine bone mineral to limit buccal bone resorption and to optimize soft tissue stability.

In the ISG group, a pouch is made in the buccal mucosa using microsurgical instruments. Thereupon, a free gingival graft is harvested from the palatal mucosa in the premolar area and de-epithelialized to arrive at a CTG of about 1 mm thickness. Height and length are tailored to the dimensions of the site. Then, the CTG is brought into the pouch and fixed with two single sutures onto the buccal mucosa. Finally, a healing abutment is installed, which is replaced by a provisional implant crown 2 days later.

In the DSG group, implant placement, socket grafting and installation of a provisional implant crown occur as described above. In contrast, a buccal pouch is performed 3 months after implant installation. Graft harvesting, adaptation and fixation are performed as described above.

A small-field low-dose CBCT is taken at the 1-year and 5-year follow-up in order to measure buccal bone resorption as compared to the baseline dimensions in designated software.

Full description

Patients with a single failing tooth in the anterior maxilla will be included after a clinical examination and evaluation of a small-field low-dose CBCT. An intra-oral scan will be taken in order to make a surgical guide. A cutting implant with variable thread design (BLX, Straumann) will be installed using the surgical guide in order to sufficient primary implant stability.

Thereafter, the gap between the implant surface and buccal bone wall is filled with deproteinized bovine bone mineral (Bio-Oss, Gheistlich Pharma).

At this point, a closed envelope is opened and the patient gets assigned to either ISG or DSG group.

In the immediate soft tissue grafting group, a de-epithelialized free gingival graft was inserted in a buccal pouch to augment the buccal soft tissues. The graft was fixed with single sutures (Seralon 6/0, Serag Wiessner, Naila, Germany).

In the delayed soft tissue grafting group, the same procedure was performed 3 months after implant placement.

In both groups, patients received an immediate, screw-retained temporary crown. Restorations were installed within the first 48h after implant placement.

Sutures were removed 1 week after soft tissue grafting.

Enrollment

40 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

20+ years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • At least 20 years old
  • Good oral hygiene defined as full-mouth plaque score ≤ 25% (O'Leary et al. 1972)
  • Presence of an incisor, cuspid or premolar in the maxilla that needs to be extracted for any reason with at least one neighboring tooth present
  • At least 3 mm bone available at the apical or palatal aspect of the alveolus as assessed on CBCT to ensure primary implant stability
  • Intact buccal bone wall at the time of extraction
  • Written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • Pregnancy
  • Systemic diseases
  • Smoking
  • Suppuration
  • > 1 mm gingival asymmetry between the failing and contralateral tooth
  • Untreated periodontal disease; untreated caries lesions

Trial design

Primary purpose

Treatment

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Double Blind

40 participants in 2 patient groups

Immediate soft tissue grafting
Active Comparator group
Description:
A connective tissue graft is immediately harvested and inserted in the buccal mucosa at the moment of implant placement
Treatment:
Procedure: Soft tissue grafting
Delayed soft tissue grafting
Experimental group
Description:
Three months after implant placement, a connective tissue graft is harvested and inserted in the buccal mucosa
Treatment:
Procedure: Soft tissue grafting

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Central trial contact

Jan Cosyn, Professor; Lorenz Seyssens, Phd candidate

Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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