Palatal Pedicle Flaps for Soft Tissue Augmentation

Several approaches for peri-implant soft tissue augmentation have been proposed, including autogenous soft tissue grafts and substitutes. Palatal pedicle flaps have been introduced for increasing facial soft tissue thickness, improving esthetics, and achieving primary closure following alveolar ridge preservation or guided bone regeneration. The main advantage of these approaches is to maintain the vascularization of the flap, which may result in better healing and less shrinkage than graft-based procedures. Nevertheless, different clinical scenarios require different palatal pedicle flaps. The aim of this article was to present several palatal pedicle flap techniques for periimplant soft tissue augmentation and alveolar ridge preservation, showing flap designs and the main advantages through case presentations.