Immediate dental implant placement with or without autogenous bone graft: A comparative study

INTRODUCTION: Immediate dental implants are the most accepted contemporary treatment option for the replacement of missing teeth. One pitfall of immediate implant use, however, is the inevitable residual space that remains between the implant and the socket wall, called the jumping distance, which may lead to bone resorption and formation of a bony defect, decreasing the implant stability. When this jumping distance is more than 2 mm, use of bone grafts is recommended. However, the use of grafts when the jumping distance is <2 mm is not defined in the literature. AIM: To evaluate the peri-implant hard and soft tissue changes following immediately placed implants with a jumping distance of 2 mm with or without autogenous bone grafts. SETTINGS: The study was conducted between January 2016 and December 2017 in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This was a prospective, single-center, two-arm, parallel, randomized study on patients undergoing replacement of missing anterior teeth with immediate implants. There were two groups: the study group which received bone graft and the control group which did not receive any graft. Temporary prosthesis was placed following implant placement which was replaced with definitive prosthesis 4 months later. Patients were followed up for a period of 9 months. The alveolar bone loss was evaluated radiologically using cone-beam computed tomography, and pain, suppuration, mobility, and periodontal probing depth were evaluated clinically. RESULTS: There were 16 participants in the study group and 17 in the control group. The alveolar bone loss was greater in the study group; however, pain, suppuration, and mobility showed no difference between the groups. CONCLUSION: The immediate implants placed with or without bone grafts had similar alveolar hard and soft tissue changes when the jumping distance was <2 mm.