The effect of laser-etched surface design on soft tissue healing of two different implant abutment systems: An experimental study in dogs

This study describes the early soft tissue morphology around two different implant systems that received either smooth or laser-etched abutments in a beagle dog model. Implants were placed in the healed mandibular molar region of eight beagle dogs and allowed to heal for 7 weeks. When the most apical aspect of the junctional epithelium (JE) was above or within the upper half of the laser-etched region, fibers were oriented perpendicular to the abutment surface. In contrast, JE positioned within the lower half of the laser-etched region or within or below the implant-abutment gap level presented fibers oriented parallel to the abutment surface.