The condition of the soft tissues at tooth and fixture abutments supporting fixed bridges. A microbiological and histological study.

In 10 partially edentulous patients provided with fixed bridgework supported by the combination of tooth and titanium fixture abutments, the condition of the soft tissues surrounding the abutments was examined. Sampling of supra- and subgingival plaque was performed from both teeth and fixtures. The samples were analyzed regarding the total bacterial counts, the relative distribution of bacterial morphotypes and the cultivable microflora. From each patient, soft tissue biopsies were obtained from 1 tooth and 1 fixture abutment, and the specimens were analyzed for the presence and extension of inflammatory cell infiltrates. The microbiological examination showed that the distribution of bacterial morphotypes in the supra- and subgingival plaque both at teeth and fixtures were similar, irrespective of localization and type of abutment. Nonmotile rods dominated the microflora, whereas spirochetes were either not detected or occurred in very low proportions. From the histological analysis, it was found that a majority of the soft tissue biopsies (75-80%) from both tooth and fixture sites contained only very small inflammatory cell infiltrates.