Alveolar socket healing: what can we learn?

Tooth extraction induces a series of complex and integrated local changes within the investing hard and soft tissues. These local alterations arise in order to close the socket wound and to restore tissue homeostasis, and are referred to as socket healing. The aims of the present report were twofold: first, to describe the socket-healing process; and, second, to discuss what can be learned from the temporal sequence of healing events, in order to improve treatment outcomes. The socket-healing process may be divided into three sequential, and frequently overlapping, phases: inflammatory; proliferative; and modeling/remodeling. Several clinical and experimental studies have demonstrated that the socket-healing process promotes up to 50% reduction of the original ridge width, greater bone resorption at the buccal aspect than at the lingual/palatal counterpart and a larger amount of alveolar bone reduction in the molar region. In conclusion, tooth extraction, once a simple and straightforward surgical procedure, should be performed in the knowledge that ridge reduction will follow and that further clinical steps should be considered to compensate for this, when considering future options for tooth replacement.