Surgical Soft Tissue Improvement in the Course of Implant Therapy

Soft tissue management has become a crucial part of implant therapy in the esthetic zone, as implant placement nowadays requires not only functional success, but also pleasing esthetic outcomes. New surgical techniques and materials provide clinicians with helpful tools that contribute to functional and esthetic success. More importantly, sophisticated clinical concepts are required to achieve the best possible result despite initially differing circumstances. During therapy, there are different points in time when it is possible to improve soft tissue conditions: at tooth extraction, together with implant placement or at uncovering. In the case of tissue deficits, augmentations using autologous soft tissue can be performed in different ways, such as socket seal surgery, the modified roll flap procedure or incisionfree tunneling techniques. Often not just one of them, but also a combination also have to be used subsequently at the different treatment steps. Once the desired soft tissue shape is created, it needs to be transferred from the provisional to the final restoration in the prosthetic part of the treatment. This article gives an overview of a strategic approach from tooth extraction to implant impression. Keywords: Soft tissue, esthetic zone, implant placement, implant uncoverage