Cost Effectiveness of Various Implant Placement Protocols in the Esthetic Zone

Loss of teeth in the anterior upper jaw significantly affects both well-being and chewing function. Nowadays, dental implants are the treatment of choice for replacing missing teeth with fixed dental prostheses and are often placed in the anterior upper jaw. Depending on various patient-related factors, protocols for the placement of dental implants involve the following time points after tooth extraction: 1. On the same day (immediate implantation) 2. After 1-4 months (early implantation) 3. After more than 4 months (late implantation). The different treatment protocols have been investigated over long periods. The choice of the individually suitable treatment protocol for dental implantation depends on many factors and is of utmost importance in order to achieve the best possible treatment outcomes. Selecting an inappropriate treatment protocol would otherwise result in an increased risk of failure. After decades of research and development in dental implantology, an expert association (International Team for Implantology, ITI) published an evidence-based decision management tool in 2022. This decision management tool assists dentists in choosing the individually suitable implant treatment protocol for single-tooth replacement in the upper jaw. A structured examination of the tooth to be extracted allows to classify the situation and select the most suitable treatment protocol for the individual situation. The treatment protocols differ in terms of time and material requirements, which are associated with different costs. There is limited data about the cost-effectiveness of these treatment protocols. The present study aims to assess how the costs of the three treatment protocols differ in relation to treatment success.