Clinical Update quiz
The Clinical Update online is a free member service providing up to 11 FREE CPD hours per year.
Each month, the Clinical Update is published online. There are 11 Clinical Updates per year (February - December). This service is available to ADAVB and ADATas members only. Members can log in to view and answer the Clinical Update questions. If you answer at least eight out of 10 questions correctly, you will receive one hour of scientific CPD.
Please note: Each new Clinical Update will be available below from the first business day of each month.
July Clinical Update
Soft tissue contours at pontic sites with or without soft tissue grafting—A 15-year follow-up of a controlled clinical study
Bienz SP, Ruales-Carrera E, Mancini L, Balmer M, Jung RE, Thoma DS. J Esthet Restore Dent. 2025 Feb; 37(2):352-360. doi: 10.1111/jerd.13326.
Compiled by Dr Sarah Chin
This article was originally published by the Journal of Esthetic and Restorative Dentistry and has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Introduction
Fixed dental prostheses (FDP) are a popular and successful long-term option to replace missing teeth. There are deficiencies in the alveolar ridge which can affect aesthetics and cleansability in the pontic site due to remodelling of the hard and soft tissues after extraction. Ovate pontics are favoured over ridge lap designs for aesthetics and cleansability. Sufficient volume of tissue is required for the ovate pontic to mimic a natural tooth.
Subepithelial connective tissue grafts (SCTG) are considered the gold standard to improve volume deficiencies at pontic sites. There is minimal long-term evidence for the stability of pontic sites treated with SCTG. Scans and casts provide profilometric and volumetric analysis at different time points with high accuracy. FDP pontic sites are ideal for analysis as there are fixed reference structures nearby.
The aim of the present clinical study was to assess the long-term contour changes of pontic sites with or without previous soft tissue augmentation over an observation period of 15 years.
Members click here to continue reading and complete this month's Clinical Update questions online or download the current quiz below.
