Historical development of root analogue implants: a review of published papers.

The timetable for placing a dental implant can be crucial in the reduction of resorption of the socket after an extraction. The association of immediate implantation with an implant that copies the anatomy of the extracted root seems to add benefits in limiting the hard and soft tissue changes that may occur. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the historical development of all types of root analogue implants from their beginning to the present day. To our knowledge the first individualised ones were described in 1969. Later, the use of titanium instead of the polymers that were used to start with offered better bony integration, and showed that the selection of materials was a key factor in their success. Root analogue implants made from zirconia were also described when attempts were being made to improve aesthetics in the anterior regions. The more recent introduction of digital technology such as DICOM has allowed the fabrication of these implants in less time, and the combination with digital diagnostic options such as cone-beam computed tomography facilitated the fabrication of some types of implants before extraction that could be inserted immediately into the alveolar socket with optimal and safe 3-dimensional positioning. Currently digital planning allows the clinician to design the ideal implant and abutment, which reduces the need for tissue grafting in the surgical phase and gingival conditioning in the prosthetic phase.

Systematic development of esthetics and function in a young patient with maxillary dental aplasia.

OBJECTIVES: Full-arch rehabilitations in young patients suffering from dental agenesis should compensate for the reduced vertical dimension of occlusion and restore both esthetics and function at minimal biological cost. This requires precise planning and maximum patient compliance during the preprosthetic phase. The pretreatment period with tooth-colored splints promotes a predictable outcome of the final restorations. Clinical considerations: Thanks to better restorative materials and adhesive techniques and increased knowledge of how to preserve sound tooth structures, prosthetic dentistry has increasingly turned toward minimally invasive procedures. The present clinical case documents a minimally/non-invasive maxillary full-arch rehabilitation of an agenesis patient with multiple dental aplasia, primary tooth persistence, and deficits in bone growth. The patient was pretreated with a tooth-colored CAD/CAM polycarbonate splint. Adequate esthetics and function were achieved by two zirconia-based single-wing adhesive fixed dental prostheses to replace the upper lateral incisors, lithium disilicate ceramic partial crowns for the posterior regions, and two feldspathic veneers for the upper central incisors. CONCLUSIONS: Non-invasive pretreatment with a removable tooth-colored splint realizes the treatment goal simply and safely, reduces treatment time, increases predictability, and facilitates the transfer of the prototype to the final restorations. New restorative options permit the minimally invasive treatment of such patients. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: A pretreatment with a removable tooth-colored splint offers a simple and safe way to define the treatment goal, reduces treatment time, increases predictability, and facilitates the transfer of the results to the final restorations even in complex cases. New restorative options permit minimally invasive treatments of young patients with multiple dental agenesis.