A diversity of peri-implant mucosal thickness by site

ObjectivesThe objective of this study was to examine peri-implant mucosal thickness at different sites of peri-implant crevice around 70 implants placed in 35 patients. Material and methodsThe peri-implant mucosal thickness was defined as distance of the peri-implant mucosal margin and the coronal edge of bone/implant contact and measured using the cast models and dental radiography. ResultsThe overall mean peri-implant mucosal thickness was 3.6 +/- 1.4mm, wherein maxillary anterior implants, maxillary posterior implants and mandibular posterior implants had significantly different dimensions of median thickness of 4.25, 3.75 and 3.0mm, respectively. Furthermore, the mesial and distal sites of those positioned implants measured unevenness in the thickness especially in the maxillary posterior region with statistical significance. ConclusionThe proposed methodology to evaluate peri-implant mucosal thickness measured with a big variation from overall 3.6mm with a big variation from 1.6 to 7.0mm in healthy volunteers. And significant difference was found in the depth among the three regions and, statistically, dispersion of individual peri-implant mucosal thickness resulted in lack of consistency. Although dental implants have been well developed, predictable and prevailing prosthetics, onset of peri-implantitis might be inevitable in some cases. Therefore, establishment of a standardized dimensional diagnosis of peri-implant tissues followed by pathologic ascertainment could be taken into account for the prevention or curing of peri-implantitis.