Background: Implant esthetics may benefit from individualized zirconia abutments copying the emergence profile of the natural tooth and delivered within days after immediate implant insertion.
Purpose: To investigate the esthetic outcome of the Copy-Abutment technique using the Pink Esthetic Score (PES).
Materials and methods: A total of 77 patients with single-tooth implants in the anterior maxilla restored at the day of immediate implant placement using Copy-Abutments and provisional crowns were followed-up after 1 week, 1 month, 4 months, 6 months, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years to assess implant esthetics.
Results: PES ranged between 7 and 14 (median: 13) and improved significantly between the 6 month and 1 year follow-up (p < .001), then remained stable up to the fifth year. Significant improvement was seen for the variables PES-6 soft tissue color (p = .002) and PES-7 soft tissue texture (p < .001) up to the 1 year follow-up, while PES-5 alveolar process deficiency deteriorated (p = .016). Mean mucosal recession was 0.26 ± 0.86 mm (range: 0-1.6) after 5 years and not related to gingival biotype.
Conclusion: Copy-Abutments for immediate restoration of implants in the esthetic zone show satisfactory long-term esthetic outcomes.
Keywords: CAD/CAM technology; abutments; fixed implant prosthesis; immediate function; immediate implants; implant-supported crown; long term study; single-tooth implants.
© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.