Novel digital way to measure the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the supracrestal peri-implant soft tissue

AIM: This article reports on a novel digital superimposition workflow that enables measuring the supracrestal peri-implant soft tissue dimensions at each stage of the implant treatment process and beyond. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A preoperative CBCT scan and intraoral scans (IOSs) were successively taken before surgery, at the end of the healing period, at prosthesis delivery, and over time. The scans were digitally superposed using dedicated software. Then, the stereolithography (STL) files of the healing abutment, prosthetic abutment, and crown were successively merged into the superposition set of IOSs. RESULTS: The workflow protocol of successively merging the STL of each item into the superposition set of IOSs enabled capturing the dimensions of the height and width of the supracrestal soft tissue at every level of the healing abutment, prosthetic abutment, and crown. In addition, it allowed measuring the vertical distance at which the crown exerts pressure on the gingiva as well as the thickness of the papillae at every level of the abutment. CONCLUSION: This novel digital superimposition workflow provides a straightforward method of measuring the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the supracrestal peri-implant soft tissue, including the papillae, at each stage of the implant treatment process and beyond. It allows investigating a certain number of soft tissue variables that were previously inaccessible to clinical research. The workflow should help to enhance our comprehension of peri-implant soft tissue dynamics.