SOFT TISSUE HEALING AROUND IMMEDIATELY PLACED DENTAL IMPLANTS AUGMENTED WITH AMNIOTIC CHORION MEMBRANE VERSUS CONNECTIVE TISSUE GRAFT (A CLINICAL AND HISTOLOGICAL STUDY)

INTRODUCTION: The Amnion Chorion Membrane (ACM) has favorable regenerative properties which facilitates its use for coveringimmediate dental implants.OBJECTIVES: To evaluate clinically and histologically the effect of Amnion Chorion membrane in augmenting immediately placed dentalimplants compared to connective tissue graft (CTG)MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted clinically on eighteen upper hopeless anterior/premolar teeth scheduled forextraction and immediate implant placement. Patients were divided into two groups: in the first group, nine immediate implants were coveredwith ACM, and in the second group nine immediate implants were covered with CTG. Keratinized mucosal width (KMW), keratinized mucosalthickness (KMT) and healing score were recorded for both groups at 7 , 14 , 30 and 90 daysRESULTS: The KMT showed an increase by 26% in the test group while in the control group it decreased by 6.5% by the end of the studyperiod. Regarding the healing scores both groups showed marked improvement throughout the study, lower values of healing scores were notedin the test group. Clinical results were confirmed by histological examination which revealed that oral mucosa of both groups showedparakeratinized gingival epithelium. The connective tissue of the test group showed more regularly arranged ,thick bundles.CONCLUSIONS Both treatment modalities were satisfactory but the ACM offered more positive results concerning the mucosal thicknessand healing scores.KEYWORDS: Immediate implants, ACM, Connective tissue graft, Soft tissue