Clinical Recommendations for Implant Abutment Selection for Single-Implant Reconstructions: Customized vs Standardized Ceramic and Metallic Solutions

The present paper presents clinical guidelines for the selection of the abutment material and level of customization for single-implant reconstructions. A systematic literature search was conducted previous to a Consensus Conference, resulting in two systematic reviews. One review focused on esthetic clinical outcomes, including esthetic indices and linear measurements, and the second focused on peri-implant soft tissue color outcomes, evaluated with spectrophotometry. The outcomes of esthetic indexes and linear measurement were highly heterogenic, hence, a meta-analysis was not feasible. All-ceramic and customized solutions showed a trend for improved results of the esthetic outcomes. Regarding soft tissue color outcomes, all-ceramic abutments induced significantly less soft tissue color changes. Both metallic and all-ceramic abutments/standard and customized components may result in clinically and esthetically acceptable reconstructions.