Faculty Bibliography

Extraction of teeth leads to bone resorption that can result in asymmetrical hard and soft tissue topography. This article describes a technique to enhance a pontic site in the anterior maxilla by using forced eruption as an alternative to conventional hard and soft tissue augmentation surgeries. Forced eruption is a well-known procedure and its use in developing a pontic site for a fixed dental prosthesis is described in this clinical report.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the orientation of collagen in the canine gingival connective tissue to a titanium surface (TI), and to hydroxyapatite coatings applied by plasma-spraying (HAPS) and ion beam assisted deposition (IBAD), on the supracrestal region of dental implants after 3 and 4 months. The effects of induced peri-implantitis on the soft connective tissue apposed to the implant were also evaluated. The use of these three surface types allowed for the evaluation of the effects of chemical composition (TI vs. IBAD; same topography) and topography (HAPS vs. IBAD; similar chemical composition) on the collagen fiber orientation. The majority of collagen fibers were found to be parallel to the implant surface, and there was no significant effect of surface type on orientation. There was a significant effect of inflammation on the connective tissue attachment length. The loss of bone height and concomitant gingival recession reduced the length of soft connective tissue apposed to the implant zone designed for collagen fiber attachment