Evaluation of the Relationship Between Vertical Mucosal Thickness and Radiological Bone Loss of Platform-Switching Implants Placed at Different Levels

Dental implants have become one of the most common treatments used for the rehabilitation of lost teeth. The success rate of dental implant treatment is quite high. One of the criteria used for long-term implant success is the evaluation of radiographic bone loss. It is known that the keratinized mucosa over the alveolar crest forms a protective barrier against inflammatory infiltration. It has been reported that the vertical mucosal thickness over the alveolar crest in the operation area before dental implant treatment is important in the formation of the biological width around the implant. There are studies in the literature examining the effects of vertical mucosal thickness on peri-implant marginal bone loss. In a study presented by Linkevicius et al., in 2014, they divided 80 patients into 2 groups according to their mucosal thickness. It was reported that radiological bone loss was 1.17 mm in the group with low vertical mucosal thickness at the end of 1-year follow-up, and 0.21 mm in the group with high vertical thickness.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of vertical mucosal thickness on the alveolar crest on peri-implant marginal bone loss around crestal and subcrestal placed platform-switching implants.

Before starting the surgery, after the patient is anesthetized, the width of the peri-implant keratinized mucosa and the vertical mucosal thickness over the alveolar crest will be measured. In this study, patients will be divided into 2 main groups with vertical mucosal thickness of 2 mm and less and more than 2 mm, and both groups will consist of 2 subgroups as crestal and subcrestal according to the implant level placed.

It is planned to use the same brand of implant and platform-switch abutment in patients. With standardized control periapical radiographs to be taken as a result of one-year follow-up, the marginal bone loss amount in the implants will be evaluated using software. Routine clinical and radiological measurements will be repeated in all patients at the prosthetic loading session (T0), at 3 months (T1), at 6 months (T2), and 1 year after loading (T3). Pre-surgical radiographs will be taken from the patients who participated in our study, as in all implant patients Clinical measurements.

1. Plaque index (Löe & Silness) and gingival index (Silness & Löe) are obtained by measuring 4 regions of a tooth (mesial, distal, buccal and lingual) with a Williams periodontal probe.