The Effectiveness of a Customized Titanium Mesh for Ridge Preservation with Immediate Implantation in Dogs

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a newly designed titanium mesh (TM) for preserving the buccal bone around an immediately placed implant following tooth extraction in dogs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Immediate implant placements were performed bilaterally in the mesial socket of the fourth premolar in five dogs. In one site, the TM was affixed to the fixture using its own stabilization components (TM group), and the contralateral site was left untreated (control group). All surgical sites were intended to be submerged with primary flap closure. Histologic and histomorphometric analyses were performed 16 weeks postoperatively.

RESULTS: All implants were histologically osseointegrated, and buccal bone resorption was evident in both groups with the high rate of TM exposure (4/5). The most coronal level of bone-implant contact and the bone crest were not statistically different between the TM and the control group. A dense connective tissue layer consistently predominated under the TM, where mineralized tissue was not observed, and the vascularity and cellularity were minimal.

CONCLUSIONS: It can be conjectured that preservation of buccal plate by using the TM in immediate implantation was not predictable due to vulnerability to wound dehiscence and substantial pseudoperiosteum formation beneath the TM.