title: Principles and mechanisms of peri-implant soft tissue healing.
abstract: The long-term clinical and esthetic success of implant-supported restorations is determined by osseointegration and optimal remodeling of peri-implant soft tissues. Complications of soft-tissue management are often caused by fibrotic regeneration of oral mucosa after multiple surgical procedures. Knowledge of the proliferative processes in wound healing is necessary to attain adequate soft-tissue conditions. Successful reconstruction of peri-implant soft tissues is feasible even in fibrotic conditions when appropriate surgical techniques are selected. The pleiotropic proliferative cytokine TGF-beta is involved in the regulation of all phases of wound healing and tissue remodeling. The isoform TGF-beta1 is a cytokine associated with the development of fibrotic tissue. Overexpression of TGF-beta1 causes scarring and fibrosis, and results in limited clinical success of intraoral soft-tissue management. Experimental therapeutic approaches with neutralizing antibodies to block TGF-beta1 resulted in less scarring and a reduction of fibrosis. Further molecular biologic research of cell-matrix-cytokine interactions in wound healing will provide highly specific antifibrotic therapeutic approaches in the future.
authors.affiliation: Clinic and Policlinic of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schultze-Mosgau
authors.forename: Markus B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Blatz
authors.forename: Falk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wehrhan
authors.forename: Karl Andreas
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Schlegel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thorwart
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Holst
mesh_terms: D002921:Cicatrix / Q000503:physiopathology; D015921:Dental Implants; D005355:Fibrosis; D006801:Humans; D016348:Osseointegration / Q000502:physiology; D010519:Periodontium / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta