Title
Crestal bone loss and soft tissue changes in epicrestal versus subcrestal implants: An in vivo study
Authors
Amit Siwach1,* Sanatomba Thingujam1, Anil Sharma1, Shrimant Raman1, Reenu Sirohi2 & Shivani Saran1
Affiliation
1Department of Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge, Kalka Dental College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India; 2Department of Public Health Dentistry, Kalka Dental College, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author
Amit Siwach - E-mail: amitsiwach@kgiedu.com
Sanatomba Thingujam - E-mail: sanathingujam@gmail.com
Anil Sharma - E-mail: drsharmaanil@gmail.com
Shrimant Raman - E-mail: drsraman.mds@gmail.com
Reenu Sirohi - E-mail: reenusirohi@kgiedu.com
Shivani Saran - E-mail: docshivanisaran@gmail.com
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received June 1, 2026; Revised June 30, 2026; Accepted June 30, 2026, Published June 30, 2026
Abstract
The long-term success of dental implants depends on preservation of crestal bone and peri-implant soft tissue, yet the optimal depth of implant placement remains controversial. Therefore, it is of interest to compare clinical and radiographic outcomes of epicrestal and subcrestal implant placement at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Groups showed comparable baseline conditions with no significant intergroup differences (p > 0.05), while subcrestal implants showed consistently lower marginal bone loss and probing depths over time. Although intragroup comparisons revealed significant bone loss progression (p < 0.001), all outcomes remained within acceptable clinical success criteria. Thus, we report that subcrestal implant placement offer a biological advantage in peri-implant tissue preservation despite statistically comparable outcomes.
Keywords
Crestal bone loss (CBL), dental implants, epicrestal placement, peri-implant tissues, subcrestal placement
Citation
Siwach et al. Bioinformation 22(6): 3281-3288 (2026)
Edited by
Ritik Kashwani
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
