This study was designed to determine whether the distance from the base of the contact area to the crest of bone could be correlated with the presence or absence of the interproximal papilla in humans. A total of 288 sites in 30 patients were examined. If a space was visible apical to the contact point, then the papilla was deemed missing; if tissue filled the embrasure space, the papilla was considered to be present. The results showed that when the measurement from the contact point to the crest of bone was 5 mm or less, the papilla was present almost 100% of the time. When the distance was 6 mm, the papilla was present 56% of the time, and when the distance was 7 mm or more, the papilla was present 27% of the time or less.

Clinicians should proceed with great caution when placing two implants adjacent to each other in the esthetic zone. In most cases, only 2, 3, or 4 mm of soft tissue height (average 3.4 mm) can be expected to form over the interimplant crest of bone. These results showed that modification of treatment plans may be necessary when esthetics are critical for success.

The current classifications of teeth with furcation involvements refer mainly to the horizontal component of bone loss. This article presents a subclassification that measures the probeable vertical depth from the roof of the furca apically. The subclasses being proposed are: A, B and C. "A" indicates a probeable vertical depth of 1-3 mm, "B" 4-6 mm and "C" 7 or more mm of probeable depth from the roof of the furca apically. Furcations would thus be classified as IA, IB, IC, IIA, IIB, IIC and IIIA, IIIB, IIIC.

No abstract