Aesthetic Outcome of Implants in the Anterior Zone after Socket Preservation and Conventional Implant Placement: A Retrospective Study.

Alveolar ridge resorption occurs after tooth extraction and has the potential to either complicate implant placement or impair the final aesthetic result. Techniques to preserve natural bone and soft-tissue contours are beneficial to clinicians and patients because postextraction buccal plate resorption may have significant clinical effects, especially in the aesthetic zone. This study aims to evaluate the aesthetic outcome of implants in the anterior zone after socket preservation and conventional placement. Data were collected from a total of 86,000 patients who visited Saveetha Dental College between June 2019 and March 2020. The data of 105 patients in whom anterior implants were placed either after socket preservation or after extraction in this frame were retrieved. Pink aesthetic scoring (PES) and white aesthetic scoring (WES) were carried out, and the data obtained were tabulated in SPSS for Windows, version 20. Unpaired t-testing compared the two techniques, and Pearson chi square correlation detected potential associations with age and gender. It was found that PES and WES scores were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in implant prostheses placed after socket preservation compared to those placed after a healing period of 3 to 6 months after tooth extraction. Associations of aesthetic scores with age and gender were statistically insignificant. It was concluded that aesthetic outcomes of implants placed after socket preservation were better than those for implants conventionally placed.