One or 2 Implants for Two Lower Centrals?

A 41-year-old man is a smoker and has poor dentition (Fig.1).  Mobility of the tooth #25 is his primary concern (Fig.2,3).  The first appointment will consists of lower arch scaling & root planing, extraction of #24 and 25 and immediate implants.  The smallest implants in our office is 3 mm (one piece).  Due to the limited mesiodistal space (< 9 mm), placement of two 3x14 mm one piece implants seems to be too crowded for restoration (Fig.2).  There is no much room to pack porcelain to cover grayish metal showing. In contrast, one implant can be placed in the mesial slope of the tooth #24 (Fig.3).  One abutment is placed to support two crowns.  Therefore a 2 piece implant may be chosen so that there are several options for the abutment, 3 or 3.5 mm and different angulation.

In brief, measurement of the lower anterior edentulous space after extraction will determine the number of the implants to be placed.

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Xin Wei, DDS, PhD, MS 1st edition 08/03/2014, last revision 01/19/2018