The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of peri-implant soft tissue and bone thickness on the early dimensional change of peri-implant soft tissue.

Seventy-seven non-submerged implants of 39 patients which had been loaded more than 6 months were selected for the study. Following clinical parameters were measured; bucco-lingual bone width of the alveolar bone for implant placement before implant surgery; distance between implant shoulder and the first bone/implant contact at the surgery; presence of plaque, probing depth, bleeding on probing, width of keratinized mucosa, mucosa thickness, distance between implant shoulder and peri-implant mucosa, crown margin location at follow-up examination.

The results showed that distance between implant shoulder and peri-implant mucosa (DIM) was correlated with probing depth and width of keratinized mucosa (p < 0.05). In addition, mucosa thickness was also correlated with probing depth (p<0.05). However, the bone width of alveolar bone and soft tissue thickness were not found to be correlated with DIM.

It is important to understand the meaning of peri-implant tissue dimension in relation to dimensional changes of peri-implant soft tissue which designates appearance of implant-supported restorations. Future study is needed to elucidate the significance of the buccal bone thickness and soft tissue thickness with respect to the change of peri-implant soft tissue margin with the use of an instrument capable of measuring buccal bone thickness directly.