Evaluation of Early Changes in Periimplantal Alveolar Bone Micromarchitecture During Immediate Implantation Using Fractal Analysis: A Retrospective Study

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the effect of immediate implantation on the peri-implant bone using fractal analysis. Materials and Methods: Orthophotomographs of the participants just before the immediate implantation (T0) and the first (T1) and fourth months (T2) after the immediate implantation were used for fractal dimension analysis. In the radiographs, "Regions of Interest" (ROI) with dimensions of 33 × 33 pixels were determined (ROI-1: mesial-coronal, ROI2: mesial-apical, ROI3: distal-apical, ROI 4: distal-coronal, ROI average). Results: The fractal dimension analyzes at T0, T1,T2 times in the research; It was found that there was a significant decrease in ROI1, ROI4, ROI average measurements between T1-T0 (p< 0.05), and T2-T1 (p < 0.05), no significant difference in measurements between T0 -T2 (p > 0.05). No significant differences were found in the ROI2 and ROI3 measurements at any time (p >0.05). Gender, jaw subgroups: ROI1, ROI4, and ROI average, while a significant difference (p < 0.05) was observed between T0- T1, T1–T2 values, no significant difference was found in the measurements between T0-T2 (p >0.05). No significant differences were found in the ROI2 and ROI3 measurements for all subgroups and evaluation times (p >0.05). When gender and jaw type subgroups were evaluated within themselves, it was observed that there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Within the limits of our study, we can state that immediate implantation preserves the fractal dimension in the peri-implant bone