Peri-implant mucositis is a pathological condition characterized by an inflammatory process in the peri-implant soft tissues. Progression to peri-implantitis takes place in case of peri-implant bone resorption. Recently, an aid for non-surgical treatment by mechanical debridement (SRP) has been identified in probiotics. As there are no recent studies regarding their use for peri-implant mucositis, the aim of this study was to test a new postbiotic gel for this clinical condition. A split-mouth randomized clinical trial was performed. Twenty patients undergoing SRP were randomly assigned to two treatments based on the following oral gels: chlorhexidine-based Curasept Periodontal Gel (Group 1) and postbiotic-based Biorepair Parodontgel Intensive (Group 2). At baseline (T0) and after three (T1) and six (T2) months, the following peri-implant mucositis indexes were recorded: Probing Pocket Depth (PPD), Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI), Bleeding Score (BS), Marginal Mucosal Condition (MMC). A significant decrease is reported for both postbiotic and chlorhexidine for all peri-implant mucositis indices studied. Quite the opposite, no significant variation was present in intergroup comparisons. Greater improvements for BS, GBI and MMC inflammatory indices of the postbiotic gel compared to chlorhexidine suggest the importance of further studies to investigate the relevance of the product alone.

Peri-implant infections are the most common complications related to the placement of dental implants. There are many microbial similarities between peri-implantitis and periodontitis but due to current laboratory techniques there are just as many differences. This review was performed to assess changes in the oral microbiota at sites with peri-implant disease, according to the state of the art. The peri-implant microbiota presents a lower microbial quality than the periodontal microbiota, becoming increasingly complex as it progresses from peri-implant mucositis to peri-implantitis. The microbial difference detected between the peri-implant and periodontal microbiota is primarily related to whole bacterial populations, rather than specific bacterial taxa. The use of probiotics could support the reduction of peri-implant pockets, in association with mechanical debridement, due to their mechanism of action of competitive inhibition for adhesion sites. The peri-implant microbiota represents a qualitatively inferior but quantitatively superior bacterial ecosystem for some bacterial genera compared to the periodontal microbiota, showing that a progression from healthy state to peri-implantitis causes changes in microbiota composition in the absence of specific disease-causing bacteria. Transcriptomics could provide useful information for the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of peri-implant pathology through knowledge of bacterial virulence factors.

With the evolution of CAD/CAM technology, custom titanium and/or zirconia abutments are increasingly being used, leading to several comparisons in the literature, both mechanical and aesthetic, to evaluate performance differences between these two types of abutments. Therefore, the aim of this comprehensive review is to present the most recent data on the latest comparisons between CAD/CAM and stock abutment applications. The PICO model was used to perform this review, through a literature search of the PubMed (MEDLINE) and Scopus electronic databases. CAD/CAM abutments allow individualization of abutment parameters with respect to soft tissue, allow increased fracture toughness, predict the failure mode, show no change in the fracture toughness over time, reduce the prosthetic steps, and reduce the functional implant prosthesis score and pain perceived by patients in the early stages. The advantages associated with the use of stock abutments mainly concern the risk of corrosion, time spent, cost, and fit, evaluated in vitro, in the implant–abutment connection. Equal conditions are present regarding the mechanical characteristics during dynamic cycles, screw loss, radiographic fit, and degree of micromotion. Further randomized controlled clinical trials should be conducted to evaluate the advantages reported to date, following in vitro studies about titanium and/or zirconia stock abutments.

The aim of this issue is to describe endosseous distal extension (EDE) surgical technique. This implant technique was conceived and applied since 1993 by Dr Luca Dal Carlo, as an evolution of the classical ramus blade implant technique. With this technique, you attain great stability of the blade implant, due to the following difference compared with the classical blade implant technique: the hard and soft tissues lying behind implant abutment are not being destroyed at all. A slot is made on the upper side of the bone ridge, and the blade is inserted into it and pushed backwards, so that the implant is embedded under untouched tissues. Using blade implants specially drawn for this particular surgery, the slot’s length turns out to be about half of the implant’s length. Piezo bistoury is useful to facilitate surgical proceedings. If we compare the regenerated bone on the mesial part of the implant and the bone that had remained untouched on the distal side, we will see a difference in the tissue density even after a long time. EDE technique is suitable for those cases in which the lower distal sector is characterized by scarceness of cancellous bone. Data collected during 22 years of clinical practice (97.7% 5-year success rate) allow to suggest employing this technique with asymmetric blades to treat D3-D4 narrow ridges located in the posterior mandible. Soft tissue response results are very good.

Specific conditions of the oral cavity, such as intake of acidic drinks, foods, and drugs, represent a damage both for teeth as well as restorative materials. The aim of this in vitro study is to assess the influence of an acidic challenge on the weight loss of biomimetic restorative dental materials (composite resins and glass-ionomer cements, respectively). Seven products recently available in the marked have been tested in this study for the two kinds of materials, respectively. Resin composites were divided into Groups 1A–7A, whereas glass-ionomer cements into Groups 1B–7B. A total of six samples was considered for each group, among which two were stored into distilled water (control samples) whereas the other four were immersed into soft drink (Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Company, Milano, Italy) for 7 days. Respectively, after 1, 3 and 7 days, weight was assessed for each sample and the percentage weight loss was calculated. For all the composite resins (Groups 1A–7A), no significant intergroup or intragroup differences occurred for the weight loss values (p > 0.05). Conversely, all glass-ionomers (Groups 1B–7B) showed a significant and progressive weight loss after 1, 3, and 7 days of acid challenge (p < 0.05) (intragroup differences). This reduction was significantly lower in case of GC Equia Forte + Coat and ChemFil Rock, with respect to the other cements (p < 0.05) (intergroup differences). In conclusions, all the biomimetic composite resins showed a reliable behavior when exposed to acidic erosion, whereas glass-ionomers cements generally tended to solubilize. However, the additional use of a protective layer above these latter materials could reduce this event. Despite these results appear to be interesting from a clinical point of view, future morphological evaluations should be conducted to evaluate the superficial changes of the materials after acidic explosion.