Immediate alveolar buccal bone plate reconstruction. A simplified technique with 28 consecutive cases and 2- to 4-year follow-up. Case reports with hard tissue and aesthetic evaluation

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to present a novel surgical technique for buccal bone plate regeneration and to evaluate the dimensions of the buccal bone and aesthetic parameters over a 2to 4-year follow-up period. Materials and methods: Twenty-eight patients participated in this prospective clinical study. After tooth/implant extraction, labial bone defects were grafted with xenogenic bone substitute and covered with a collagen membrane. An implant was placed eight months after the reconstruction surgery and loaded three months later. An evaluation of the hard and soft tissues was performed after a mean of 3 years of follow-up. Cone-beam computed tomography was performed to examine the stability over time and measure the thickness of the reconstructed buccal bone plate. The Pink Aesthetic Score was used to evaluate the aesthetic outcome of the peri-implant soft tissues. Patient satisfaction with aesthetics was also evaluated with a questionnaire 15 months after loading the implant. Results and conclusions: All patients attended the follow-up examination. At the follow-up examination, the mean of the reconstructed facial bone thickness was greater than 2 mm. Based on the examinations using the Pink Aesthetic Score, 10.7% of the cases had a good outcome (> 9 and < 12), and twenty-five out of 28 (89.3%) had a perfect result (> 12). Eleven patients out of 28 indicated good satisfaction, and 17 indicated excellent satisfaction fifteen months after the implant loading. *Correspondence to: Marzio Todisco, via Agello 68/c Desenzano del Garda 25015 Italy, Tel: 39-030-990-1158, E-mail: marzio@marziotodisco.com