Introduction: Traditionally, when a dental implant is placed, a flap can be raised to better visualize the position of surgical site, so the bone fenestrations risk can be reduced when there is limited bone available. Recently, for patients with thick gingival biotype (≥2 mm) and sufficient bone volume in recipient site, flapless implant surgery is considered a new concept, where dental implants are inserted into crestal bone without flap elevation.
Objectives: To compare the outcome of dental implants placed in the maxillary posterior area with flapless technique versus conventional surgical technique in patients with controlled type 2 diabetes.
Materials and Methods: A randomized clinical study was done on twenty controlled type 2 diabetic patients, with missing maxillary posterior teeth. The patients were separated into two groups: In group A, ten implants were inserted in maxillary posterior area using a flapless technique and in group B, ten implants were inserted in maxillary posterior area using a flap surgical technique. All patients underwent clinical and radiographical evaluations for 8 months.
Results: The flap approach showed a statistically significant higher mean pain severity during the first, third and seventh day, higher swelling only on the first day and lesser implant stability after four months than the flapless technique. For both groups, during the fourth and eighth months period, there was no significant difference in crestal bone loss.
Conclusion: The flapless dental implant placement could be considered for controlled type 2 diabetic patients to reduce post-operative pain and swelling and for better implant stability.