Platform Switching in Dental Implants

The success of dental implants is highly dependent on integration between the implant and intraoral hard and soft tissues. Hence an understanding of the etiology of crestal bone loss is important. Crestal bone preservation is a very important key to success in implant dentistry. The use of prosthetic abutments with a reduced diameter in relation to the implant diameter (platform switching) limits crestal bone resorption usually seen after loading. It maintains the biological width and helps improve esthetics by preserving the interproximal papilla. Thus platform switching may be clinically applied in implant placement every time the clinical situation permits.