Methods: Non smoker patients in need of single tooth replacement at two posterior sextants were included. Bone level implants were simultaneously placed. Resonance Frequency Analysis (RFA) was performed at placement, 1 and 4 weeks post-operatively. Bone plate and flap thicknesses were measured with a caliper. Plaque and gingival indices (PI and GI) and peri-implant sulcus depth (PSD) were determined at baseline and during healing. Crevicular fluid (CF) was collected by using sterile strips and volume was determined with Periotron®. Gingival tissue biopsies were obtained. These samples were stored at -80°C for future protein/gene array experiments.
Results: Nine patients (5 female; 51±4.7yrs) were included. Initial bone and flap thicknesses were similar at both sites (P>0.05). Newly forming PSD ranged between 2 to 4 mm. RFA revealed an initial 68±2.4 ISQ unit for site I compared to 72±2.2 ISQ for site II. These values changed to 75±1.6 (P=0.03) and 69±2 ISQ (P>0.05) at 4 weeks, respectively. PI stayed stable while GI decreased significantly (P=0.04), at both sites. Initial CF volume increase at week 1 diminished to baseline levels by week 4 (P=0.04 for site I; P>0.05 for site II). Local molecular wound marker expression is currently under investigation.
Conclusions: Based on these preliminary findings, site-specific characteristics of peri-implant wound healing can be detected at two separate sites within the oral cavity.
Keywords: Crevicular fluid, Human, Implantology, Periodontics and Wound healing