One-piece implants: placement timing, surgical technique, loading protocol, and marginal bone loss.

PURPOSE: Osseointegration being an accepted and well-documented concept, attention is now directed towards simplification of the mechanical design of implants and towards achieving biomechanical success. The aim of this literature review is to provide an overview of the one-piece implant, with its advantages and disadvantages over a conventional two-piece implant. METHODS: The PubMed database was searched in the English language using the keywords one-piece implant, single-piece implant, single-stage implant surgery, and two-piece implant. Articles were selected on the basis of whether they had sufficient information related to placement timing, surgical procedure used, loading protocol, follow-up periods, marginal bone loss, and implant success rates of one-piece implants. For inclusion, a study group must have had a minimum of 30 one-piece implants followed for at least 1 year. DISCUSSION: Nineteen articles were subjected to the selection criteria. Out of 19 clinical trials only 11 met the selection criteria. Five parameters were taken into consideration for studying one-piece implants: placement timing, surgical technique, loading protocol, marginal bone loss, and implant survival rate. The data from the identified studies were tabulated according to these parameters and discussed. CONCLUSION: Delayed placement of one-piece implants is more commonly practiced than extraction and immediate placement. Most surgeons prefer surgeries using flaps as compared to flapless surgeries, and in most cases, one-piece implants were loaded immediately. Limited literature reveals both positive and negative results regarding the effect of a one-piece implant system on surrounding hard and soft tissues.

Custom ocular prosthesis: comparison of two different techniques.

BACKGROUND: Loss of tissue, whether congenital or traumatic or resulting from malignancy or radical surgery, is accompanied by esthetic and psychological effects. Fabrication of an ocular prosthesis is a challenging and time-consuming procedure. PATIENTS AND TECHNIQUES: This article describes two different techniques of iris customization on two different patients. First technique describes the iris customization with the use of conventional paint on technique while second describes the photographic method of fabricating the eye prosthesis. DISCUSSION: A sequence of steps of construction of ocular prostheses is outlined, and the critical areas of fabrication and artistic techniques employed in the successful prosthetic treatment are described in this article. Conventional iris paint on technique and digital photographic technique to customize the iris are explained along with their advantages, disadvantages and indications. CONCLUSION: In addition to decrease treatment time and increased simplicity, digital photography technique is particularly advantageous in cases requiring thin acrylic shell type of prosthesis.