Immediate Implantation and Restoration in the Anterior Mandible- 8-Year Follow-up

Objectives: The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the short- and long-term survival and success rates of immediately placed and restored implants in combination with GBR in the anterior mandible. Additionally, the study aimed to provide valuable information on objective aesthetic parameters, such as the presence or absence of papillae and the frequency of marginal gingiva recession.
Methods: This retrospective study aimed to determine the survival and aesthetic outcomes of implants immediately placed and restored in the anterior mandible. The study included 75 implants that were inserted along with guided bone regeneration in 42 patients. Over a follow-up period of 3 to 8 years (mean of 6.95 ± 1.78 years), the study evaluated aesthetic, marginal bone loss (MBL), and biological and prosthetic complications.
Results: No failures were recorded during the follow-up period, and after eight years, the survival rate was 100%, while the cumulative success rate was 87.44%. Age and gender did not have a statistically significant impact on MBL, but smokers had a greater MBL than non-smokers at both the 3-year (1.12mm vs. 0.58mm, respectively, p=0.205) and 8-year (2.98mm vs. 1.23mm, respectively, p = 0.016) time-points. At 3 years, only 13.3% of the implants had mesial papillae, 36.0% had distal papillae, and 16.0% had the cervical metallic part of the abutment exposed.
Conclusions: Based on the limitations of this study, immediate placement and restoration of the mandibular incisors can be a feasible procedure, but only a few implants will achieve complete restoration of the papillae.