The importance of gingival integration in implant-prosthetic oral rehabilitation – preliminary study

Abstract

Gingival integration, also known as epithelio-conjunctive integration, together with bone integration, is one of the main processes involved in the tissue integration of dental implants. Unfortunately, many practitioners treat this gingival integration with great superficiality, considering it to be an insignificant factor in this highly complex process of tissue integration of dental implants.Purpose. In this study, we intend to define very precisely the concept of "gingival integration" or "epithelial-conjunctive integration" and to introduce it as a specialized term in the basic vocabulary of implantologists.Material and method. A questionnaire based on 5 questions was used to carry out this study. The study group was composed of 64 implantologist (all subjects are holders of a degree after following a competence program in oral implantology in Bucharest). The study was conducted between October 2015 and November 2018.Results and discussions. The responses of the 64 practitioners have been analyzed and structured for a simple understanding, being extremely important for future research directions.Conclusions. Following the analysis of the results of this study we consider that the concept of "gingival integration" of dental implants requires more attention from practitioners, which will be reflected in the long-term success of dental implants.