Ultrasound-based Imaging to Detect Early Changes of Hard and Soft Tissue Around Immediately Placed Implants With or Without Soft Tissue Augmentation

October 1, 2025 updated by: Shaoping Zhang, University of Iowa
Mid-facial recession following immediate implant placement (IIP) in the place of a tooth poses a significant challenge for clinicians to treat. Emerging evidence shows that connective tissue graft (CTG) augmentation may mitigate the remodeling of the buccal bone crest (i.e., bone within the gum that supports the tooth), and lessen the soft tissue recession. A recent systemic review suggested a supplemental CTG grafting to IIP as a standard of care, especially for cases that have a high esthetic risk, specifically with a thin gingival biotype (i.e., thin gum tissue) and a thin buccal bone plate. The alternative option to augment the facial contour is the xenogeneic volume-stable collagen matrix (VCMX), which favors avoiding morbidity but hasn't been thoroughly investigated on IIP. Despite that IIP has attracted considerable scientific interest, the dynamic changes of the bone crest and soft tissue, especially during the early healing stage (<3 months following IIP), are little known. Recently, an ultrasonography protocol has been validated for its diagnostic value in dental implant research. High-frequency B-mode imaging and color flow and power Doppler are implemented to display the spatial relation of anatomic landmarks of peri-implant tissues and to visualize the flow velocity and blood volume, respectively. It provides a valuable real-time diagnostic tool to evaluate hard and soft tissue remodeling and tissue perfusion changes during the early healing stage around IIP, comparing CTG and VCMX grafting. Hence, the purpose of this three-arm RCT is to compare the clinical efficacy and longitudinal remodeling of hard and soft tissue around IIP among CTG, VCMX, and control (without soft tissue augmentation) group. This will be the first evidence of the longitudinal tissue changes around immediate implant, and the first RCT comparing the clinical efficacy and esthetic outcome of xenogenic soft tissue substitute (i.e., from the non-living bone of another species) to the gold standard approach (CTG) on the immediate implants.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Terminated

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
31

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Iowa
      • Iowa City, Iowa, United States, 52242
        • University of Iowa College of Dentistry and Dental Clinics

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 95 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age 18-95
  • Has a single hopeless tooth in the maxillary esthetic zone (i.e., first premolar to first premolar, tooth #5-tooth #13)
  • Adequate oral hygiene (i.e., full-mouth bleeding score (FMBS) and full mouth plaque score (FMPS) of less than 25%)
  • Adequate tooth space to support an immediate implant placement (i.e., adequate mesiodistal space of greater than or equal to 6 mm and interocclusal space to support a non-occluding provisionalization).
  • Postextraction vertical bone defect of the buccal socket wall was less than or equal to 3mm.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients taking long-term (more than 3 months) medications affecting bone metabolism
  • generalized untreated periodontitis with greater than of 30% of sites with greater than 5mm pocket depths and bleeding upon probing with a dental probe
  • medical contraindications for having a surgical procedure (i.e., ASA Status of III, patient with a severe systemic disease that is not life-threatening; ASA Status of IV, a patient with a severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life).
  • history of radiotherapy in the head and neck region
  • heavy smoker (greater than 10 cigarettes per day)
  • pregnancy
  • gingival recession before extraction in relation to the contralateral tooth.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Tuberosity Connective Tissue Graft (CTG)
Subjects in this arm will have a tuberosity connective tissue graft at the time of immediate implant placement.
Procedure: Tuberosity Connective Tissue Graft (CTG)
CTG will be taken from the patient's own mouth
Experimental: Xenogeneic Volume-Stable Collagen Matrix (VCMX) graft
Subjects in this arm will have Xenogeneic Volume-Stable Collagen Matrix (VCMX) graft at the time of immediate implant placement.
Device: Xenogeneic Volume-Stable Collagen Matrix (VCMX) graft No Intervention: No Soft Tissue Augmentation
Fibro-gide is the VCMX
Other Names:
  • Fibro-Gide, Geistlich Pharma
No Intervention: No Soft Tissue Augmentation
Subjects in this arm will have no soft tissue augmentation at the time of immediate implant placement.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage of Participants That Had an Implant That Survived 6 Months After Immediate Implant Placement Either With or Without Soft Tissue Grafting
Time Frame: 6 months after immediate implant placement
For participants that had immediate implant placement either with or without soft tissue grafting, this outcome is determined via clinical evaluation of the percentage of participants that still had their 1 implant in place after 6 months. Note: Only 1 implant was placed per participant.
6 months after immediate implant placement

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Iowa

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Shaoping Zhang, DDS, MS, PhD, University of Iowa

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
January 17, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
March 4, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
March 4, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 8, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 8, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 15, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
October 29, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 1, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 202203162

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings