Since the publication of the first edition of this book 20 years ago, the landscape of implant dentistry has changed dramatically. Both the industry and patient demand have expanded exponentially, leaving the clinician with many decisions to make (and often as many questions to ask) regarding patient selection, surgical timing and techniques, implant types, and restorative approaches. This volume brings together the knowledge of the foremost leaders in implant dentistry, covering all aspects of the treatment process, from decision-making and treatment planning through imaging, surgical techniques, bone and soft tissue augmentation, multidisciplinary approaches, loading protocols, and finally strategies for preventing and treating complications and peri-implantitis as well as providing effective implant maintenance therapy. Filled with expert knowledge based on decades of research and clinical experience as well as abundant illustrations and clinical case presentations, this book is an indispensable resource for clinicians seeking to provide implant treatment at the highest standard of care.
MYRON NEVINS âą RICHARD I. HERMAN âą YOSHIHIRO ONO
A Clinical Decision: Save the Tooth or Place an Implant?
Treatment Planning Considerations
Treating Periodontally Compromised Teeth
The Endodontic Treatment Option
Treating Patients with Sound Periodontium and a Localized Problem
Periodontal Regeneration
Decision Making for Saving the Natural Dentition
Esthetic Considerations
The contemporary hallmark of a superior clinician is the ability to select therapies that are predictable and have long-lasting results. The question of whether to save a tooth or replace it with a dental implant is multifaceted, and the assessment requires a multidisciplinary approach to dental care. Giannobile and Lang have reported a trend over the past two decades toward a reduced emphasis in clinical practice to save compromised teeth.1 They suggest that clinicians should revisit the long and successful history of tooth maintenance, preserving the natural dentition without the rush to extract teeth and replace them with implants. Dental practitioners do a disservice to their patients and themselves when they fail to carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of such options in providing optimal oral health care delivery to patients.
TREATMENT PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS
Decisions made in treatment planning often determine the value of the result for the patient. Contemporary dentistry has benefited from the predictability of osseointegration,2â10 periodontal regeneration,11â29 successful endodontics,30 and prosthodontics, four compelling areas in which the clinician must be knowledgeable in order to make an informed decision regarding when to save the tooth or place an implant.
Nearly every patient asks the same questions during consultations. They are the following:
âą How much discomfort will I endure?
âą How many visits will be required?
âą What will be the total treatment time?
âą How will this affect my appearance?
âą What is the financial commitment?
âą What is the expected longevity of the treatment outcome?
There is minimal information available in evidence-based dentistry to assist in making many clinical decisions because of the number of variables that challenge the recruitment of populations for randomized controlled trials. As a result, when considering the prospect of replacing a maxillary first premolar with two roots, for example, clinicians eventually resort to their own clinical experience or case report publications. Considerations that must be made include the following:
âą What is the distance from the apex of the tooth to an anatomical obstacle, and will it be necessary to augment the bone in the floor of the sinus (Figs 1-1a and 1-1b)?
âą What is the position of the roots of the tooth relative to each other and to the neighboring teeth?
âą Is the tooth vital, and how intact is the tooth structure and the occlusal level of bone (Figs 1-1c and 1-1d)?
âą What type of lip line and dental display does the patient have, and how will it affect the esthetics?
âą Could the tooth be treated endodontically? (A 2009 report by Morris et al31 concluded that implants require more postoperative treatment than endodontically treated teeth, possibly a result of contemporary advancements. In addition, many endodontic complications, with the exception of fractured teeth, are resolvable.)
Implant patients fall into two general categories. The first includes individuals with teeth that are congenitally missing or damaged by trauma or root resorption (Fig 1-2). The second group has demonstrated susceptibility to inflammation that is evidenced by radiographic bone loss (Fig 1-3). Those in the first category require only tooth structure correction or replacement, whereas the second group presents the additional challenge of preventing or minimizing recurrent inflammation. The primary factor dictating decision making becomes the length of the clinical root, ie, that portion of the tooth that resides in the alveolar process (see Figs 1-1c and 1-1d). With a susceptible patient, it is advisable to eliminate the periodontal disease and provide a carefully constructed periodic maintenance program to reduce the risk of active inflammatory disease.32 The therapeutic result has to provide an environment that the patient and dental hygienist can maintain (see Fig 1-3).
It is of paramount importance to recognize at the outset that it is possible, and in some instances preferable, to use the time-honored therapeutic approaches of conventional restorative dentistry. Although there is a lack of controlled studies in the discipline of periodontal prostheses, there is a paucity of significant randomized controlled human studies to support the clinical application of many periodontal and prosthetic approaches. There is, however, overwhelmingly positive clinical evidence gathered through the observation of treated patients to be considered. Periodontally compromised patients with mobile, drifting, or missing teeth have been successfully rehabilitated with or without implants (Figs 1-3 to 1-5). Such patients require a treatment plan that provides predictability over an extended time frame.