Immediately Placed Single Locking-Taper Implants in the Aesthetic Area of Upper Maxilla: A Short-Term Pilot Study

Background: As the rehabilitation of the upper anterior maxilla primarily requires high predictability of successful aesthetic outcomes, procedures of immediate implant place- ment are frequently employed. The aim of this pilot study was to retrospectively evaluate the short-term outcomes of a protocol of immediate implant placement in fresh extraction sockets, followed by immediate non-functional provisional restorations. Methods: Patients were treated for the replacement of maxillary central or lateral incisors, or cuspid teeth with a single-crown locking-taper implant. Clinical and photographic records were retrospec- tively compared between the teeth prior to extraction (T0) and restorations one year after prosthetic loading (T1). Outcomes were analyzed using the Pink Esthetic Score (PES), ac- cording to the patient’s phenotype (thin/thick), with or without the use of connective tissue graft (CTG). Results: The overall mean PES of 25 implants treated was 9.24 ± 2.36 at T0 and 9.60 ± 1.70 at T1. Comparison of groups between T0 and T1 revealed significant PES varia- tions (p = 0.04), with the best and the worst scores, respectively, registered for thin + CTG group (from 7.50 ± 1.91 to 9.75 ± 2.87) and thin group (from 11.33 ± 2.33 to 10 ± 0.89); moderate increases were assessed for thick group (from 8.44 ± 2.40 to 9.44 ± 2.12) and thick + CTG group (from 9.50 ± 1.04 to 9.33 ± 0.81). Conclusions: Within the limits of a short-term analysis of a small number of patients, immediate implant rehabilitation for aesthetic areas of the upper maxilla can be assumed as a safe and predictable protocol. Concomitant use of CTG seems to provide beneficial effects in thin phenotypes, not any additional value in thick phenotypes.