Table 3. Population pool and outcomes of studies reporting on MBL around implants placed in sites with measured tissue thickness.
| Study reference | Patients | Groups | Study information | Outcomes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects | Implants | Protocols | Restoration retention | Implant neck position (under/equi/above the crest) | Loaded within 1 yr | Follow-up duration (yr) | Drop-out, patients (implants) | Thin vs. thick (mm) | Implant failure | Prosthesis failure | Complications | Soft tissue changes (mm) | MBL (mm) | |||
| Linkevicius et al. [28] (group A) | 80 | 2 | 40 | 40 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thin, 1.53 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1.18 (1.2) |
| 1 | 40 | 40 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thick, 2.98 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0.22 (0.00) | ||
| Sig. | <0.001 | <0.001 | ||||||||||||||
| Linkevicius et al. [19] (group B) | 30 | 1 | 30 | 30 | Flap transmucosal | Cement-/screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thin, 1.76 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1.41±0.42 |
| 2 | 30 | 30 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Cement-/screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thin, 1.63 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 1.43±0.23 | ||
| Sig. | 0.976 | |||||||||||||||
| Canullo et al. [29] (group A) | 26 | 1 | 18 | 40 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Cement-retained | Under | Yes | 3 | 2 (N/A) | Thin, ≤2.00 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0.27 |
| 2 | 10 | 28 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Cement-retained | Under | Yes | 3 | 0 (0) | Thick, >2.00 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0.17 | ||
| Sig. | 0.414 | |||||||||||||||
| Bruschi et al. [30] (group B) | 120 | N/A | 120 | 135 | Partial-thickness flap, PS | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 3 | 0 (0) | Thick, 3.00 | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | −1.09±0.38 |
| Canullo et al. [11] (group B) | 35 | Test | 15 | 15 | Flap covered, plasma of argon, PS | Cement-retained | Under | Yes | 5 | 0 (0) | Thin, ≤1.00 | 0 | 0 | N/A | −0.48±0.40 | 0.11±0.14 |
| Control | 15 | 15 | Flap covered, cleaning by steaming, PS | Cement-retained | Under | Yes | 5 | 0 (0) | Thin, ≤1.00 | 0 | 0 | N/A | −0.39±0.31 | 0.38±0.43 | ||
| Sig. | - | 0.026 | ||||||||||||||
| Jeong et al. [31] (group A) | 241 | Thin | 241 | 318 | Flapless transmucosal, PS | Screw-retained | N/A | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thin, <3.00 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0.3±0.2 |
| Thick | 114 | Flapless transmucosal, PS | Screw-retained | N/A | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thick, ≥3.00 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 0.3±0.6 | |||
| Sig. | - | |||||||||||||||
| Linkevicius et al. [20] (group A) | 23 | A | 23 | 23 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | 3 (0) | Thin, 1.95 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.45±0.55 |
| B | 23 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | Thick, 3.32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.17±0.19 | ||||
| Sig. | - | |||||||||||||||
| Linkevicius et al. [32] (group B) | 4 | Thin | 4 | 12 | Flap transmucosal, PS, PM | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 0 (0) | Thin, 1.79 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.60±1.81 |
| Linkevicius et al. [33] (group A) | 34 | Test | 26 | 12 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | 7 (7) | Thin, ≤2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.35±0.33 |
| 12 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | Medium, 2.1–3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.32±0.44 | |||||
| 8 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | Thick, ≥3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.12±0.16 | |||||
| 34 | Control | 26 | 12 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 7 (7) | Thin, ≤2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.83±0.52 | |
| 12 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | Medium, 2.1–3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.62±0.63 | |||||
| 8 | Flap transmucosal, not indicated | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | Thick, ≥3.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.55±0.47 | |||||
| Sig. | Test | |||||||||||||||
| Control | 0.503 | |||||||||||||||
| Linkevicius et al. [34] (group A) | 113 | A | 34 | 34 | Flap transmucosal, PM | Cement-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | N/A | Thin, 1.51 | 2 early | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.73±0.07 |
| C | 34 | 34 | Flap transmucosal, PM | Cement-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | N/A | Thick, 2.98 | N/A | 0.46±0.07 | |||||
| Sig. | 0.000 | |||||||||||||||
| Puisys and Linkevicius [13] (group B) | 102 | T1 | 33 | 33 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | N/A | Thin, ≤2.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 1.18±0.07 |
| C | 32 | 32 | Flap transmucosal, PS | Screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | N/A | Thick, >2.00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 0.21±0.06 | ||
| Sig. | 0.000 | |||||||||||||||
| van Eekeren et al. [35] (group A) | 33 | MC | 33 | 17 | Flap transmucosal, PM | Screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 1 (2) | Thin, ≤2.00 | 1 early | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.6±0.5 |
| 20 | Flap transmucosal, PM | Screw-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | Thick, >2.00 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.2±0.4 | ||||||
| 33 | LC | 33 | 15 | Flap transmucosal, PM | Screw-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | 1 (2) | Thin, ≤2.00 | 0 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.1±0.5 | |
| 22 | Flap transmucosal, PM | Screw-retained | Above | Yes | 1 | Thick, >2.00 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.2±0.4 | ||||||
| Sig. | MC | 0.003 | ||||||||||||||
| LC | 0.518 | |||||||||||||||
| Bhat et al. [36] (group A) | 22 | Thin biotype | 20 | 17 | Flap covered, not indicated | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | 2 (0) | Thin, 1.09 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.50±0.24 | 1.70±0.36 |
| Thick biotype | 16 | Flap covered, not indicated | Cement-retained | Equi | Yes | 1 | Thick, 2.20 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1.22±0.24 | 0.61±0.36 | ||||
| Sig. | - | |||||||||||||||
All data were collected after an observational period of 12 months from prosthetic loading. The level of significance refers to comparisons between thin and thick mucosa.
N/A: not provided, PS: platform-switched connections, PM: platform-matched connections, MBL: marginal bone loss, Equi: equicrestal, Sig.: significance.