Posttraumatic use of dental implants immediately after tooth extraction: clinical study.
OBJECTIVE
Root fracture is a combined injury of cementum, dentin, and pulp. Many of these traumas remain untreated, mistreated, or overtreated. It leads to a more complicated treatment in case of tooth loss. Many different treatment procedures, with a very changeable success rate, have been proposed for years to treat teeth with root fractures. The objective of the following clinical studies was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of implants placed in fresh extraction sites to treat teeth with horizontal root fracture.


METHODS
The study group included 25 patients (15 men and 10 women) between the ages of 20 and 65 years. After an initial examination and a treatment planning, all of the patients underwent periodontal treatment, which was deemed necessary to favor wound healing. All the 25 teeth were extracted because of horizontal root fracture located at the level of the middle third. The second-stage surgery was performed 6 months after the initial procedure. The following clinical parameters, presence or absence of mobility, presence or absence of pain, and presence or absence of suppuration, were evaluated in each patient at 6 and 12 months after implant placement. Radiographs were taken using the standard method to evaluate the marginal bone loss.


RESULTS
The healing period was uneventful for all patients. All implants had osseointegrated. After 12 months, patients were asymptomatic and showed no signs of infection or bleeding when probed.


CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of this study, implants placed right after tooth extraction are a valid treatment procedure, which induces predictable results as treatment of fractured teeth.
From the *Department of Surgical, Medical, Molecular Pathology, and Critical Area, University of Pisa, Pisa; and Istituto Stomatologico Toscano, Versilia General Hospital, Lido di Camaiore, Lucca, Italy.
Ugo
U
Covani
Simone
S
Marconcini
Francesco
F
Ferrini
Federico
F
Gelpi
Marco
M
Finotti
Antonio
A
Barone
Daniele
D
de Santis
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014081:Tooth Extraction; D014082:Tooth Fractures / Q000601:surgery*; D014092:Tooth Root / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult