Gingival recession around implants: A 1-year longitudinal prospective study

A longitudinal study was performed, which measured the soft tissue around i mplants following surgery, to determine if a predictable pattern of soft ti ssue changes could be identified. This study evaluated 63 implants in 11 pa tients. Baseline measurements were recorded at stage 2 surgery in 2-stage i mplant systems, and at stage 1 surgery in the 1-stage system. Subsequent me asurements were recorded at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year after baseline measurements. The majority of the recession occur red within the first 3 months, and 80% of all sites exhibited recession on the buccal. It is therefore recommended that one wait 3 months for the tiss ue to stabilize before either selecting a final abutment or making a final impression. As a general rule, one can anticipate approximately 1 mm of rec ession from the time of abutment connection surgery. A comparison of this s tudy's results with data recorded in previously reported studies reveals cl inically significant trends in the nature of soft tissue healing.