Analysis of Buccolingual Dimensional Changes of the Extraction Socket Using the "Ice Cream Cone" Flapless Grafting Technique

The socket or ridge preservation approach known as the "ice cream cone" technique was used in type 2 sockets in this retrospective analysis of 11 extraction sites. A type 2 extraction socket is defined as having the presence of facial soft tissue with a partial or complete dehiscence of the buccal bone plate. All teeth were extracted atraumatically without flap elevation. A resorbable collagen membrane was contoured into an ice cream cone- shape, placed into the socket defect, and grafted with human freeze-dried bone allograft. Buccolingual dimensional changes were measured manually with a digital caliper sensitive to 0.01 mm on pre- and posttreatment casts using an acrylic template and a three-dimensional (3D) digital scanner, as well as radiographically with pre- and post-cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans. All implants were placed 6 months after socket preservation and achieved primary stability with a minimum torque value of 35 Ncm with a mean buccal-lingual dimensional loss of 1.32 mm. The dimensional change of the ridge from pre- to postextraction reflective of the healed grafted site ranged from a loss of 0.46 to 2.25 mm with a mean of 1.28 mm (CBCT), 0.31 to 2.71 mm with a mean of 1.36 mm (digital calipers), and 0.21 to 2.80 mm with a mean of 1.32 mm (3D digital scanner). All 11 implants were immobile and clinically osseointegrated. The so-called ice cream cone technique allows for the reconstruction of a buccal plate dehiscence to enable the placement of an implant; however, the ridge dimension was diminished by 1.32 mm compared with the width of the extraction socket prior to tooth removal.