A clinical guide for maintenance, monitoring and assisment of Peri-implant site

Endosteal implants have become routine therapy for the replacement of missing teeth and have an
excellent success rate. Proper patient selection prior to implant therapy and home-care are crucial to
this success. An implant maintenance protocol with routine in-office implant evaluation and
maintenance should be established for each implant patient. Clinicians must know how to assess and
maintain peri-implants site with techniques and instruments.
Objectives: The overall goal of this article is to provide the readers with information on implant
assessment, maintenance, and monitoring. Upon completion of this article, the readers will be able to
do the following:-
a. List the differences between natural teeth and implants.
b. Describe how to assess an implant with a soft tissue assessment, know the protocol for
probing/radiographic monitoring, and recognize the signs of a failing implant.
c. List and describe the clinical knowledge required to set up a proper home-care routine with
the patient.
d. List and describe the considerations in performing safe implant maintenance and the
instruments that can be used for instrumentation.