Socket Shield Technique for Implant Placement in the Esthetic Zone: A Case Report

Abstract

Improvements in implant design, placement protocols, and sequences for reconstruction in the anterior region have enabled clinicians to provide their patients with esthetically acceptable results. Yet from a clinical standpoint, the predictable preservation of the peri-implant soft tissue remains challenging and tissue grafting is often necessary to compensate for ridge contour changes in postextraction sites. In animal and clinical studies, the socket shield technique has shown its potential to prevent resorption of buccal tissues. This 24-month follow-up case report presents a 47-year-old patient with a failing maxillary incisor replaced with an immediately placed single implant in conjunction with the socket shield technique.