Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation of the Effect of Flapless Dental Implant Treatment on Early Bone Loss and Patient Comfort Flapless Dental Implant Treatment Decreases Early Bone Loss around Dental Implants

Background: With the widespread use of dental implants, many studies have been conducted on long-term survival rates, and the factors affecting implant success and the effects on the patient s' quality of life have been examined. In our study, these factors were considered as a whole and it was aimed to evaluate the effect of flapless dental implant treatment on marginal bone loss and patient comfort, and the effect of soft tissue thickness and primary and secondary implant stability values measured by resonance frequency analysis (RFA). Methods: A total of 37 implants [21 implants with the conventional flap procedures (Control group=F), and 16 implants with flapless design (Test group=FL)] were applied to the upper jaws of patients. Marginal bone loss values were determined by bitewing radiographs taken immediately after implant surgery and three months after surgery. Moreover, Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) was applied to the patients at the beginning, at third and seventh days, and visual analog scale (VAS) questionnaires were filled for pain measurement. Results: RFA was used to determine the implant stability values, and the data obtained during the surgical operation and in the third month for each implant were evaluated. A statistically significant difference was found in marginal bone loss values in F and FLgroups at the third month (p <0.05). There was no significant difference in mean stability values of the implants between groups (p> 0.05). There was no statistically significant correlation between primary and secondary implant stability values and marginal bone loss. Conclusions: Within the limitations of this study, provided that appropriate patient selection is necessary for flapless implant surgery, it can be concluded that flapless implant surgery causes less early marginal bone loss and provides better patient comfort compared to the conventional technique.