Evaluation of the Presence or Absence of Papilla between Tooth and Implant

Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the papilla level adjacent to single-tooth implants in the maxillary anterior region in individuals with cleft lip, alveolus, and palate to verify whether there is correlation among the vertical distance, horizontal distance, dental/prosthetic crown shape, and periodontal/peri-implant biotype with the presence of interproximal papilla.

Design:

Cross-sectional.

Setting:

Hospital for Rehabilitation of Craniofacial Anomalies, University of São Paulo (HRAC/USP).

Patients:

77 papillae in 40 patients.

Interventions:

The periodontal/peri-implant biotype was clinically evaluated and characterized as thin or thick. Intraoral photographs were used to evaluate the presence or absence of papilla.

Main Outcome Measures:

Classification in scores (0 to 3) and determination of length (CL) and width (CW) of crowns adjacent to papillae. The CW/CL ratio was calculated for each crown in order to characterize it as square-shaped or triangular-shaped. The vertical and horizontal distances were obtained by radiographic evaluation.

Results:

The correlations between vertical distance and papilla score and horizontal distance and papilla score were statistically significant (p  =  .02 and p  =  .01). There was no significant difference between crown shape and periodontal/peri-implant biotype in distinct correlations with the papilla score (p  =  .41 and p  =  .07).

Conclusion:

The results suggest that the vertical and horizontal distances may have independent or combined relationship with the existence of interproximal papilla; the periodontal/peri-implant biotype (phenotype) was not correlated with the presence or absence of papilla, as well as the shape of the dental/prosthetic crown.