Abstract Purpose To evaluate the impact of palatal alveolar bone thickness at the implant platform level on bone resorption and failure rates in the maxillary aesthetic zone. Materials and Methods From 2018 to 2023, 81 patients with 118 implants were included. This retrospective study used cone‐beam computed tomography to measure labial/palatal bone thickness at three stages (T0: postoperative; T1: 3 months; T2: 6 months). The data are presented as the means ± SDs, with significance set at p < 0.05. Relationships between palatal alveolar bone thickness and implant outcomes were evaluated using Pearson correlations, Chi‐square tests, and ANOVA with eta‐squared statistics. ROC curve analysis was used to determine the cutoff value for failure‐related bone thickness. Results The palatal alveolar bone at the level of the implant platform was unrelated to the bone resorption or failure rate. ROC analysis (AUC = 0.651) identified < 5.76 mm palatal bone thickness at T0 (root tip level) as a significant failure risk predictor ( p < 0.05). Horizontal palatal and labial bone thickness decreased by 21.79% ± 41.18% ( p < 0.05) from T0 to T2, with greater labial bone loss. Conclusions Palatal alveolar bone thickness at the implant platform level does not influence bone resorption outcomes or survival rates in the maxillary aesthetic zone. However, excessive reduction of palatal bone at the root tip (< 5.76 mm) increases failure risk. Preoperative planning should preserve adequate palatal bone mass while avoiding unnecessary bone removal for long‐term stability.
Song et al. (Thu,) studied this question.