Bone Dimensional Change Following Immediate Implant Placement in Posterior Teeth with CBCT: A 6-Month Prospective Clinical Study

This prospective clinical study aimed to evaluate the peri-implant hard tissue dimensional change at 6 months of immediate implant placement with bone graft materials in the posterior area using cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT). Twelve dental implants were placed concurrently following tooth extraction in the posterior area and filled with xenograft particles. The CBCT images were taken immediately after surgical procedures and then at 6 months follow-up. To evaluate the hard tissue changes, the vertical and horizontal bone thickness were analyzed and measured using ImageJ software. Paired t-test or Wilcoxon match-pair signed-rank test was done to analyze the changes of hard tissue values at the same level between immediately and 6 months following immediate implant placement. Independent t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to analyze the dimensional change in the vertical and horizontal direction in buccal and lingual aspects. The level of significance was set at p value = 0.05. All implants were successfully osseointegrated. At 6 months follow-up, the vertical bone change at the buccal aspect was -0.69 mm and at the lingual aspect -0.39 mm. For horizontal bone thickness, the bone dimensional changes at 0, 1, 5, and 9 mm levels from the implant platform were -0.62 mm, -0.70 mm, -0.24 mm, and -0.22 mm, respectively. A significant bone reduction was observed in all measurement levels during the 6 months after implant placement (p value < 0.05). It was noted that even with bone grafting, a decrease in bone thickness was seen following the immediate implant placement. Therefore, this technique can be an alternative method to place the implant in the posterior area.