Single implant and crown to replace primary lateral incisor

A 20-year-old female patient presented with a lingually positioned and submerged primary lateral incisor with limited buccolingual bone thickness. There was also a reduced amount of incisal bone due to the submerged position of the primary tooth that limited the amount of mucosa present to form papillae around the implant crown.

A single implant with a metal-ceramic crown was chosen as the treatment of choice. The lack of peri-implant mucosa following tooth extraction and implant placement produced an esthetic compromise. Hence, there were open cervical embrasures on the first crown that was not acceptable. The second crown closed the embrasures but appeared larger than ideal. This treatment shows the challenges that can occur when there is a lack of adequate peri-implant mucosa.