lecture – Implant placement in the aesthetic area: key factors for long-term success
The alveolar process is a tooth-dependent structure that inevitably undergoes dimensional alterations following tooth extraction. The buccal bone wall resorbs more than the corresponding lingual/palatal one and the resorption is most pronounced at the central aspect. Therefore, lack of buccal convexity is a common finding following tooth extraction. This so-called “alveolar process deficiency” may compromise the aesthetic outcome of single implant treatment. As a result, contour augmentation by means of guided bone regeneration (GBR) is required in the vast majority of cases with aesthetic priority. This procedure can be predictably performed following soft tissue healing, being 4 to 8 weeks following tooth extraction. In this presentation the biologic and biomaterial background of this well-documented technique is discussed. In the second part of the lecture a step-by-step approach is presented and the clinical applications of GBR are discussed in detail
