Effect of socket preservation therapies following tooth extraction in non-molar regions in humans: a systematic review

Objective: To assess, based on the existing literature, the benefit of socket preservation therapies in patients with a tooth extraction in the anterior or premolar region as compared with no additional treatment with respect to bone level. Material and methods: MEDLINE-PubMed and the Cochrane Central Register of controlled trials (CENTRAL) were searched till June 2010 for appropriate studies, which reported data concerning the dimensional changes in alveolar height and width after tooth extraction with or without additional treatment like bonefillers, collagen, growth factors or membranes. Results: Independent screening of the titles and abstracts of 1918 MEDLINE-PubMed and 163 Cochrane papers resulted in nine publications that met the eligibility criteria. In natural healing after extraction, a reduction in width ranging between 2.6 and 4.6 mm and in height between 0.4 and 3.9 mm was observed. With respect to socket preservation, the freeze-dried bone allograft group performed best with a gain in height, however, concurrent with a loss in width of 1.2 mm. Conclusion: Data concerning socket preservation therapies in humans are scarce, which does not allow any firm conclusions. Socket preservation may aid in reducing the bone dimensional changes following tooth extraction. However, they do not prevent bone resorption because, depending on the technique, on the basis of the included papers one may still expect a loss in width and in height.