Purpose: To evaluate the short-term effect of dental implant placement, mucosa thickness, and their combined effects (initial biologic width) on marginal bone loss.

Materials and methods: This was a retrospective study on patients who received implant surgery in the posterior region without bone augmentation surgery between 2012 and 2016, and implants had been loaded for more than 12 months. Each patient received radiographic examination before and after implant surgery, before the stage-two surgery, and during the 1- to 5-year follow-up. The thickness of mucosa, depth of dental implant placement, and crestal bone loss were evaluated on digital radiographs. The interaction was discussed by defining the combination of initial mucosal thickness and implantation depth as the initial biologic width. The implants were divided into four study groups based on the quartile of the initial biologic width.

Results: This study included 266 patients (94 male and 172 female, 22 to 85 years of age, mean age: 51.43 years), with 413 dental implants placed including 239 Straumann implants and 174 Ankylos implants. The average follow-up was 21.50 months. After 1 to 5 years, the median crestal bone loss around implants was 0.35 mm (0.30 mm for Straumann BL and 0.40 mm for Ankylos). The implants were divided into four groups: group A (≤ 2.85 mm), group B (2.85 to 3.40 mm), group C (3.40 to 3.97 mm), and group D (> 3.97 mm). Group B showed significantly less crestal bone loss than group A (0.38 mm vs 0.25 mm; P < .05) and group C (0.25 mm vs 0.40 mm; P < .05) during the follow-up. Significantly more crestal bone loss around implants was observed in the thin mucosa group than in the thick mucosa group (0.50 mm vs 0.30 mm; P < .001), while implants placed beneath the bone level displayed a significantly higher amount of marginal bone loss than implants placed even with the bone crest (0.50 mm vs 0.10 mm; P < .001).

Conclusion: The initial biologic width has an effect on crestal bone loss. When the initial biologic width was between 2.85 and 3.40 mm, the marginal bone loss was lowest. Based on radiographic evaluation, implants placed in thick gingiva and even with the bone level showed less alveolar marginal bone loss compared with implants placed in thin gingiva and below the crestal bone level.