Soft Tissue Immersion

Success in restorative and implant dentistry is highly dependent on soft tissue health. This course
will first review the determinants that are necessary to establish mucogingival health and stability. This will be followed by a review of the diagnosis, treatment planning, and decision-making process for managing different soft
tissue defects around implants.

 A focus will then be made on the different techniques involved in soft tissue harvest and grafting around implants. This will be done didactically first followed by hands-on exercises to implement these techniques.

Participants who complete this course should be able to diagnose, plan and treat a variety of mucogingival deficiency cases.

Anatomy and terminology

Literature review

Defect classification

Timeline of grafting

Armamentarium

Suturing

Harvesting techniques: Free gingival graft, Connective tissue graft, Tuberosity harvest, Retromolar and edentulous ridge harvest

Step by step techniques: Apically positioned flap, Vestibuloplasty, Lingually positioned flap, Rotated palatal pedicle, Roll flap and modifications, VISTA/tunnel techniques, Vertical volume augmentation

Clinical case review

Post-op management

Complications

Coronally advanced flap for single teeth

Coronally advanced flap for multiple teeth

Tunneling procedures

Free gingival grafts

Alloderm for root coverage

Apically positioned flap

Lingually positioned flap

Vestibuloplasty

Free gingival graft/strip techniques

VISTA flaps with CTG

Rotated palatal pedicle

Tunnel approaches with CTG

Roll flap and modifications

Microsurgical suturing exercises

Harvest of autogenous tissue

Apically positioned flaps

Free gingival graft

Immediate implant + tunnel CTG

Socket grafting with palatal pedicle

Tunneling techniques