Background: Some of the original surgical protocols for implant surgery have been reassessed to satisfy the patient's continuously increasing expectation for shorter rehabilitation time, improved esthetics, and increased comfort. The aim of this study was to evaluate the 12-month clinical success of 18 single-tooth implants inserted immediately after tooth extraction and restored the same day with non-functional loading.
Methods: A total of 18 patients (12 women and six men), 22 to 60 years old, were enrolled in this study. Eighteen single implants were inserted in fresh extraction sockets and immediately restored with temporary abutments and crowns. All experimental sites showed an absence of fenestrations or dehiscences of the bone walls and a residual gap between implant surfaces and surrounding bone walls < or =2 mm. All temporary prostheses were positioned the same day of surgery and were not in occlusal contact with opposing arches. The comparison between the baseline and 12-month visits was performed with the Student t test for paired data (statistically significant at a level of alpha = 0.05).
Results: During the 12-month follow-up period, one fixture was removed 4 weeks after implant placement following an abscess. All remaining implants healed uneventfully with no complications and were assessed as stable and successful at the 12-month checkup. No technical complications such as screw loosening, resin fracture, or pain during chewing were registered during the 12-month period.
Conclusions: Within the limits of the data from this study, it can be suggested that immediate placement and restoration of a single implant can be a valid and successful option of treatment in the case of single compromised teeth. Moreover, this treatment protocol eliminates the need for removable provisional restoration and seems to maintain the preexisting architecture of soft and hard tissues in most cases. Nonetheless, further prospective and long-term studies are required to obtain a better insight into the limitations of this protocol.