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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the esthetic outcome of single-tooth locking taper connection implants placed in the anterior maxilla following a postextractive nonfunctional loading protocol. This preliminary clinical study involving 16 patients evaluated the results of 21 implants placed in areas with high esthetic value. For each implant the pink esthetic score, white esthetic score, cumulative survival rate, and health status of peri-implant tissues were evaluated. The cumulative survival rate was 100% 2 years after prosthetic loading, and the mean total pink esthetic score/white esthetic score was 16.9 ± 1.14 on a maximum value of 20. There was excellent plaque control in all patients, and inflammation indices were within the norm. Within the limits of this study, this immediate nonfunctional loading protocol seems to be a successful procedure esthetically and for the maintenance of peri-implant soft tissues.

Background: The use of endosseous implants is a routine treatment modality for replacing missing teeth. However, the use of dental implants is limited by the presence of adequate bone volume permitting their anchorage. Several bone augmentation techniques have been applied to solve this problem. During the last two decades zygomatic implants have become a proposed alternative to bone augmentation procedures for the severely atrophic maxilla. The main advantages of this kind of rehabilitation could be that bone grafting may not be needed and a fixed prosthesis could be applied sooner. Objective: The purpose of this review is to examine the evidence concerning the management of severely resorbed edentulous maxillae using implants placed in the zygomatic bone. Data collection: The articles reported in this literature review were searched on pubmed/medline database, considering only the English-written scientific journals. Outcomes: A Zygomatic Success Code, describing criteria to score the success of a rehabilitation anchored on zygomatic implants, is represented by the outcomes of these variables: implant stability, associated sinus pathology, peri-implant soft tissues condition and prosthetic results. Excellent results were observed for zygomatic implants. Many studies showed an implant survival rate of 100% combined to similar prosthetic results.The cumulative survival rate (CSR) and patients' satisfaction indicate that zygomatic implants could be an effective alternative for the management of an atrophic maxilla and, in some cases, be the only treatment solution. However, there are no well-defined criteria that help the clinician to evaluate this prosthetic rehabilitation. Conclusions: Thus, further studies are necessary to assess the longterm prognosis of the zygoma implant and whether these implants offer some advantages over other techniques for treating atrophic maxillae.