Digital Transfer of the Emergence Profile After Immediate Implant Placement with Hard and Soft Tissue Management

Abstract

The purpose of this report is to describe a streamlined digital workflow to transfer conditioned emergence profiles after immediate implant placements with hard and soft tissue management. A 50-year-old woman with fractures in two maxillary premolars was treated by atraumatic extractions, immediate implant placements, guided bone regeneration with a particulate xenograft, and connective tissue grafting. Healing abutments were placed to support initial tissue maturation. After a 12-16-week healing period, the implants were activated, and screw-retained provisional restorations were delivered to condition the peri-implant mucosa. Once stable emergence profiles were achieved, at week 24, a digital protocol using three coordinated scans was implemented: (1) intraoral scan with the scan bodies, (2) intraoral scan with the provisional restorations in place, and (3) extraoral scan of the provisionals with a gingival barrier for alignment. The datasets were merged in CAD software to replicate critical and subcritical contours for the definitive prostheses. The three-scan protocol enabled an accurate transfer of the conditioned mucosal contours, facilitating the design of definitive implant-supported crowns with esthetic integration and tissue harmony. This approach avoided analog impressions and minimized digital complexity, suggesting a potentially efficient and biologically respectful workflow for soft tissue-driven implant rehabilitation in single-tooth or short-span cases. The digitally guided three-scan protocol provides a practical clinical method to replicate peri-implant mucosal contours following immediate implant placements and augmentations. Further studies are required to validate its reproducibility and long-term outcomes.