Lee H. Silverstein

Aesthetic Enhancement of Anterior Dental Implants With the Use of Tapered Osteotomes and Soft Tissue Manipulation

An adequate bone base is usually a prerequisite for functionally and aesthetically optimal reconstruction of the soft tissue architecture around a dental implant. In patients with sufficient bone height but insufficient bone width as a result of tooth loss, a jaw enlargement technique with osteotomes combined with soft tissue manipulation may be utilized to facilitate proper implant placement while concomitantly optimizing the aesthetics of the final implant prosthesis. The learning objective of this article is to familiarize the reader with the principles of ridge expansion with tapered osteotomes combined with periodontal plastic soft tissue surgery to aid in proper implant placement and enhance the aesthetic result of the final prosthesis.

Suturing for Optimal Soft-Tissue Management

Establishing nontension primary wound closure of various soft tissue flaps is paramount for optimal postsurgical wound healing. Surgical procedures that require clinical flap manipulation, such as those used with traditional periodontal therapy, periodontal plastic cosmetic surgery, hard and soft tissue regeneration, and the excision of pathologic tissue, also require excellence in execution. Also paramount to clinical success is a thorough understanding of the various techniques of surgery, suturing, and the materials currently available to ensure the desired clinical results. This article will discuss the rationale of specific suturing techniques and suture materials to help the clinician obtain optimal wound closure.

Connective tissue grafting for improved implant esthetics: clinical technique.

The subepithelial connective tissue graft can be used to enhance the esthetic appearance and gingival contour of the peri-implant tissues. A technique is described and illustrated to create a soft-tissue root prominence and mask the grayish color that may be present as a result of a thin facial alveolar bony plate and/or thin labial attached gingival tissue over dental implants. (Implant Dent 1994;3:231–234)

The Use of an Extraoral Verification Template for Dental Implant-supported Prostheses

This article demonstrates the utilization of a preprosthetic extraoral verification template that could be used to ensure the accuracy of the master cast from which the laboratory working model is used as the in vitro foundation for the implant-supported prosthesis framework construction.