The root shield technique for buccal bone preservation at immediate implant placement in the esthetic zone
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Copyright: © 2020 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
After tooth extraction, the alveolar bone undergoes a remodeling process, which leads to horizontal and vertical bone loss. The resorption processes complicate dental rehabilitation, particularly in connection with implants placement. Various methods of guided bone regeneration (GBR) have been described to retain the original dimension of the bone after tooth extraction. Most procedures use filler materials and membranes to support the buccal plate and soft tissue, to stabilize the coagulum and to prevent epithelial ingrowth. It has been suggested that resorption of the buccal bone can be avoided by leaving a buccal root segment (Root-Shield Technique) in place, because the biological integrity of the buccal periodontium (bundle bone) remains untouched. This method has been described in connection with immediate implant placement in the treatment of missing teeth in the esthetic zone. This presentation describes clinical case in which the Root Shield technique was applied as part of immediate implant placement in the anterior upper canine area. It was demonstrated that the bone was clinically preserved with this technique for up to seven years follow up. Possibilities and limitations will be discussed and directions for future research will be disclosed.
