Soft and Hard Tissue Changes Subsequent to Spontaneous Healing of the Extraction Sockets Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Abstract

This study sought to compare the thickness of hard and soft tissues between edentulous and contralateral tooth sites. This split-mouth study evaluated 153 partially edentulous patients. The measurements were made on cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans. The soft tissue thickness was measured at the cementoenamel junctional (CEJ) level, and at 2, 4, and 6mm apical to the CEJ in the facial and palatal aspects. The bone thickness of the opposite quadrant was also recorded at 2, 4, and 6mm apical to the CEJ. The Mann-Whitney U test and the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were applied for further statistical analyses. At the edentulous sites, significant soft tissue loss was noted at the CEJ level (p < 0.0001) and a considerable gain was noted at 2, 4, and 6mm apical to the CEJ (p = 0.004, p < 0.0001, p ≤ 0.0001, respectively). A significant hard tissue loss was noted at 2mm apical to the CEJ but a significant hard tissue gain was observed at the edentulous sites (p < 0.0001). The soft tissue gain at 6mm apical to the CEJ was significantly associated with an increase in buccolingual diameter (p = 0.004) while the hard tissue loss at 2mm apical to the CEJ was significantly correlated with a reduction in buccolingual diameter (p = 0.020). Different amounts of tissue thickness alterations occurred in different levels of socket.