The purpose of this prospective study was to compare the horizontal mucosal contour around implants which had received guided bone regeneration to the gingival contour around contralateral teeth in the esthetic zone.
  In this prospective study, patients with a single tooth missing in the maxillary esthetic zone were included and received early implant placements with combined guided bone regeneration for contouring. One year after prostheses were delivered, impressions of the maxilla were taken using alginate and casted with gypsum. From the casts, measurements of ridge widths of the implants and their contralateral teeth were recorded at levels 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9mm corono-apically. By comparing the data of the facio-palatal ridge dimensions between the two groups, the esthetic outcome of early implant placement combined with contour augmentation was explored.
  A total of 34 patients were included of which 20 were women and 14 were men, with the mean age of 37.8 years. The median dimensions of the facio-palatal ridge deformity of the implants and their contralateral teeth were 10.63mm and 11.12mm respectively. However, the difference was negligible. The results indicated that the facio-palatal deformity of the implants and their contralateral teeth increased apically. Furthermore, at levels 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7mm the ridge deformities of the implants were lesser than their contralateral teeth. On the other hand, the ridge deformity of the implants revealed to be greater than their natural counterparts at the 9mm level.
  This study demonstrates the stable outcome of a single missing tooth replaced by an implant along with GBR. The horizontal ridge deformity around an implant revealed no significant difference than that of an untreated natural tooth. It exhibits favorable clinical results of this surgical technique. Further longitudinal studies are recommended to increase the reliability of the results.

A comparison of the horizontal dimension of the ridge contours around the tooth and implant.