Comparison of interdental papillae around single implants in the tissue-level (TL) and bone-level (BL) implants: A clinical trial

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of bone-level implants in comparison with tissue-level implants on dental papilla dimensions in single-tooth implants. METHODS: In the present clinical trial, 50 patients, 24 females (48%) and 26 males (52%), were selected among patients requesting single implants in the posterior area of the jaws. The subjects were divided into two groups (n=25). The subjects in the first group were treated with a bone-level implant (Implantium, Dentium, Korea), and the subjects in the second group were treated with a tissue level implant (Implantium, Dentium, Korea). None of the implants were loaded during this period, and only the healing effect was measured. All the implants underwent one-stage surgery (none-submerged), and healing abutments were placed after implantation. The papilla heights in both the mesial and distal aspects of the adjacent teeth were measured. A periodontal probe was used to measure from the top of the papilla to the CEJ of the adjacent teeth in two time intervals. Descriptive statistics were performed using tables and Shapiro-Wilk, chi-squared, Mann-Whitney, and independent t-tests. RESULTS: The findings showed that the interdental papilla in TL single implants performed better than that in BL implants at the three-month interval. This difference was statistically significant on the mesial aspect but not on the distal aspect. However, the difference was not clinically significant. CONCLUSION: A comparison of papilla dimensions in two implant types showed that papilla formation in TL implants was better than that in BL implants at the three-month postoperative interval.