Comparison of Short and Standard Dental Implants

After the plaques and soft attachments around the implants were removed, the implants were isolated using cotton rolls and dried with an air spray. The PICF was collected from the mesio-buccal region of the implant using periopaper strips (Oraflow Inc, NY, USA). Paper strips were placed 1-2 mm inside the peri-implant sulcus and kept for 30 s. Paper strips were placed in sterile Eppendorf tubes containing 200 µL of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). The tubes were kept at -80°C until the analysis day. Paper strips contaminated with saliva or blood were excluded from the sampling.

After collecting the PICF, the supragingival plaque was carefully removed using a sterile scaler. Implants were isolated using cotton rolls and dried with an air spray. Subgingival plaque samples were collected from the mesio-buccal region of the implant using a sterile plastic Gracey curette (Hu-Friedy, Switzerland) for 30 s. The samples collected were transferred to sterile Eppendorf tubes containing 200 µL of PBS. The tubes were kept at -80°C until the analysis day.

"A single calibrated examiner performed all (full-mouth and site-specific) clinical measurements (B.K.), including probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), presence of bleeding on probing (BOP), 3-year survival rate (CSR), and bone loss (BL).~The values of PD and BOP were measured from four sites of each implant (mesial, distal, buccal, and lingual) with a Williams type (Hue Friedy, Switzerland) plastic periodontal probe. The PD was recorded as the distance from the base of the peri-implant to the side of the gum in millimeters. BOP was evaluated according to the presence (+) or absence (-) of bleeding within the first 30 s following the measurement of PD.17 Control panoramic films of all patients were taken, and differences in the marginal bone level between radiography images after implant placement and 3 years later were evaluated. Original films and images taken later were taken with the same angle for standardizaton."