Soft Tissue Responses Around Nanostructured Calcium-phosphate-coated Implant Abutments on Dental Implants: Histological, Genetic and Clinical Evaluation in Smokers and Non-smokers.

Soft Tissue Responses Around Nanostructured Calcium-phosphate-coated Implant Abutments on Dental Implants: Histological, Genetic and Clinical Evaluation in Smokers and Non-smokers.

• Baseline:

  • Standard preparation of the osteotomy
  • Placement of 2 dental implants
  • On each implant one of both types of healing abutments is placed
  • Suturing
  • Standardized radiography to measure bone-levels at baseline
  • Digital impression of the surrounding gingiva with an intra-oral scanner (a non-invasive method) to measure the baseline level of the gingiva

• 2 weeks after Baseline:

  o Removal of the sutures

• 4 weeks after Baseline:

  • A 2nd digital impression of the soft tissue with an intra-oral scanner
  • Collecting crevicular fluid by placing paperpoints in the provided apertures in the healing abutments for 60 seconds without bleeding.
  • Measuring of the pocket depth in the provided apertures in the healing abutments with an automated probe.
  • Removal of the Healing Abutment with the attached soft tissue en-bloque.
  • Placement of a new, regular, Encode Healing Abutment.

• 10 weeks after Baseline:

  • Start of standard prosthetic procedure. In this study we expect that the soft tissue attachment (i.e. the gingival attachment) will be stronger and earlier achieved at the nano-structured healing abutments than at the normal, uncoated healing abutments. This would lead to a more stable soft tissue complex on the long rung and thus providing a more predictable aesthetic outcome. Secondly, a stronger attachment would mean a stronger barrier against micro-organisms and might influence the occurrence of peri-implantitis.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients are eligible for this study if they are in need of minimum 2 dental implants and have sufficient bone to place these implants

Exclusion Criteria:

• All patients with limited bone
• Periodontally compromised patients
• Patients who took antibiotics 3 months before implantation
• Patients with uncontrolled diabetes
• Pregnant patients
• Patients who received radiotherapy in the head/neck region
• Patients under chemotherapy
• Patients who had intravenous use of bisphosphonates