Recent literature has shown that tooth extraction in the esthetic zone is followed by enormous amounts of ridge reduction caused by bone and soft tissue remodeling. The clinical implication of this, among other factors that warrant discussion, is the limitations regarding immediate implant placement in the esthetic zone. On the other hand, staged approaches – even those combined with alveolar ridge preservation techniques and/or alveolar ridge reconstruction – do not always show predictable results, so that esthetic compromises are quite common. Only under optimal conditions do the current literature and common consensus reports support the use of immediate implant placement to preserve the natural esthetic architecture of the former periodontal structures that had surrounded the extracted tooth. Absolutely mandatory, among other factors, are a sufficient bony compartment and an adequate soft tissue volume. The present article outlines a clinical methodology to reestablish the missing prerequisites for the immediate placement of implants, even in periodontally compromised and severely reduced situations, combining different approaches reasonably approved by the literature. Thus, the so-called socket rebuilding technique (SRT) is presented in this article to ensure esthetic results under challenging periodontal conditions.
