2.3.3 Follow‐up

After surgery, for a maintenance program, all patients followed an individual SPT. The SPT consisted in a custom path of follow‐up visits and oral hygiene professional session; all patients during SPT were motivated and instructed for mechanical removal of bacterial plaque through daily oral hygiene procedures. Follow‐up visits after suture removal were scheduled for 1, 3, 6, and 12 months during the first postoperative year and annually thereafter. During each annual recall, patients underwent a clinical assessment to check peri‐implant soft tissue conditions.

Probing depth values were recorded after implant placement and after prosthesis positioning (baseline). Clinical parameters were recorded immediately after prosthesis positioning at 3, 6, and 12 months. Furthermore, long‐cone parallel radiographic projection techniques were used to establish the baseline and to assess the crestal bone changes. The baseline radiographic assessment was obtained at time of abutment connection and prosthetic functionalization. The development of peri‐implant disease has been described based on comparison of values at baseline and at subsequent examinations. When clinical signs suggested the presence of peri‐implantitis, a radiograph of the site confirmed the diagnosis. These patients were treated with the appropriated surgical therapy and they were not kept in the later follow‐up. (These data will be the subject of another article in the finishing phase.)