Preservation of keratinized mucosa around implants using a prefabricated implant-retained stent: a case-control study

Purpose: The aim of this study was to clinically assess the impact of a prefabricated implant-retained stent clipped over healing abutments on the preservation of keratinized mucosa around implants after implant surgery, and to compare it with horizontal external mattress sutures. Methods: A total of 50 patients were enrolled in this study. In the test group, a prefabricated implant-retained stent was clipped on the healing abutment after implant surgery to replace the keratinized tissue bucco-apically. In the control group, horizontal external mattress sutures were applied instead of using a stent. After the surgical procedure, the width of the buccal keratinized mucosa was measured at the mesial, middle, and distal aspects of the healing abutment. The change in the width of the buccal keratinized mucosa was assessed at 1 and 3 months. Results: Healing was uneventful in both groups. The difference of width between baseline and 1 month was $-0.26{\pm}0.85mm$ in the test group, without any statistical significance (P=0.137). Meanwhile, the corresponding difference in the control group was $-0.74{\pm}0.73mm$ and it showed statistical significance (P<0.001). The difference of width between baseline and 3 months was $-0.57{\pm}0.97mm$ in the test group and $-0.86{\pm}0.71mm$ in the control group. These reductions were statistically significant (P<0.05); however, there was no difference between the 2 groups. Conclusions: Using a prefabricated implant-retained stent was shown to be effective in the preservation of the keratinized mucosa around implants and it was simple and straightforward in comparison to the horizontal external mattress suture technique.