Comparison of Implant Stability Between Conventional Drilling and Piezosurgical Implant Bed Preparation Techniques.

This prospective study compared the stability of implants placed using piezoelectric surgery (piezo group) and those placed using conventional rotary drills (bur group) during the first 90 days postoperatively. Teeth in the posterior maxillary regions of 21 patients were randomly assigned to 2 groups. The implant stability quotient (ISQ) was measured at days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42, 56, and 90 postoperatively. Twenty-eight of 29 implants were successfully integrated at day 90 (1 implant in the test group was lost). Although both groups showed a significant overall increase in implant stability with time (P < .0001) and a high final mean ISQ value, no statistically significant difference in stability was seen between the groups. The bur group showed greater variance in ISQ values than the piezo group did (P < .001) at all time points. Long-term studies with larger samples are needed to investigate the bone response to the use of piezoelectric surgery for implant preparation.

Periosteal Inhibition Technique for Alveolar Ridge Preservation as It Applies to Implant Therapy.

Alveolar ridge preservation procedures have been shown to significantly reduce the loss of ridge dimension of an extraction socket. As of yet, none of the alveolar ridge preservation techniques have been proven totally effective in preserving ridge morphology. The Periosteal Inhibition technique for alveolar ridge preservation involves placing a high-density polytetrafluoroethylene (d-PTFE) membrane between the periosteum and the buccal bone plate of an extraction socket. The authors hypothesize that the nonresorbable d-PTFE membrane, because of its much smaller pore diameter as compared to the size of the osteoclast precursor cells, inhibits the migration of the osteoclast precursor cells from the periosteum to the bony surface and, subsequently, their fusion to form osteoclasts. As a result, osteolytic activity on the outer surface of the socket is inhibited. The Periosteal Inhibition technique for alveolar ridge preservation is presented along with immediate implant treatment results using this treatment concept. The resulting stable ridge dimensions in these cases demonstrate a possibility that the d-PTFE membrane may effectively prevent modeling of the extraction socket by inhibiting the formation of osteoclasts on the outer bony surface.