Abstract: PURPOSE: To investigate the effect and safety of two techniques of immediate implants on the length of alveolar bone as well as the soft and hard tissue in the anterior maxillary zone. METHODS: One hundred and sixty cases of immediate implants in anterior maxillary zone were collected from August 2014 to August 2015 in our hospital. They were randomly and equally divided into flap group (80 cases) and flapless group (80 cases). The former received flap immediate implant while the later received flapless therapy. A 1-year follow-up, comparison on alveolar bone length, soft tissue and complications was carried out and the results were recorded. The data were analyzed with SPSS 17.0 software package. RESULTS: The number of surviving implants with flap was 63 and the survival rate was 97.5%, while the number of the surviving implants in the flapless group was 63 with survival rate being 78.75% (P<0.05). Patients in both groups had pain, bleeding, edema and other complications. The incidence rate of complications of flapless group was 11.25%, 6.25%, 8.75% respectively and the total rate was 26.25% while that of the flap group was 23.75%, 16.25%, 20%, respectively, and the total rate was 60% (P<0.05) .The depth of gingival sulcus between the two groups had no significant difference after treatment (P>0.05). The alveolar bone crest absorption and length decreased after implantation, meanwhile, there was also significant difference between the two groups after implantation (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Immediate dental implantation without flap can reduce the length of the alveolar bone and operative complications and improve the contour and physiological condition of soft and hard tissue more than that with flap.

Key words: Anterior maxillary zone, Immediate dental implant, Alveolar bone length, Soft tissue, Safety