Abstract

Past literatures stressed that when a gap occurred between smooth surface implant and alveolar bone, osseointegration was unsatisfactory at histologic examination regardless of clinical findings. Accordingly, standard surgical approach in the early days of implant surgery was to place the implant after all gap was healed. However, Botticelli et al.(2004) reported high degree of osseointegration at the gap with SLA surface implant. From then, the era of immediate implantation has begun because SLA surface implant make gap healing possible. There are two main disadvantages of immediate implantation: (1) surgical technique is sensitive for primary implant stability, (2) Implant placement at the accurate position that predicts external change of extraction wound is required. Immediate implantation has outstanding advantages in all perspectives except for the above-mentioned disadvantages. Therefore, it would be unwise to abandon the option of immediate implantation simply due to surgical difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to describe the necessity of immediate implantation and to present scientific evidence for immediate implantation and accurate implant position by literature review.