Laterally Rotated Flap for Soft Tissue Augmentation Around Maxillary Loaded Osseointegrated Dental Implant

Peri-implant mucositis is one of the most common peri-implant diseases. It was reported in more than 20% of the subjects rehabilitated with dental implants (Lee et al. 2017; Rodrigo et al. 2018; Wada et al. 2019). Furthermore, a significant association was found between peri-implant mucositis, and smoking, implant maintenance and peri-implant soft tissue characteristics (Wada et al. 2019).

Soft tissue quality and volume of the peri-implant mucosa are considered important factors in the prognosis of osseointegrated implants. Linkevicius et al. showed that if its soft tissue thickness was less than 2 mm, crestal bone loss might occur (Linkevicius et al. 2009). In addition, when soft tissue width was evaluated, a wider soft tissue band was related to minimal bone remodeling (Linkevicius et al. 2015). Lin et al. reported in a systematic review and meta-analysis that a lack of keratinized tissue (KT) around osseintegrated implants was associated with plaque accumulation, peri-implant tissue inflammation, soft tissue recession and attachment loss (Lin et al. 2013). Moreover, recent studies established the need of a minimal band of 2 mm of KT around osseointegrated implants, and showed that a band less than 2 mm was associated with more brushing discomfort, plaque accumulation, tissue inflammation and marginal bone apical displacement, concluding that a KT>2 mm had a protective effect on peri-implant tissues (Souza et al. 2015, Perussolo et al. 2018, Monje et al. 2019). Furthermore, peri-implant tissue diseases have also been related to an irregular compliance in situations of lack of KT (Monje et al. 2019).

In the presence of peri-implant horizontal and/or vertical soft tissue deficiencias, soft tissue augmentation has been considered a priority, even prior or instead of bone augmentation (Burkhardt et al. 2008, Zucchelli et al. 2013).