12/10/2026
After immediate implant treatment: establish a usable baseline
After restoration of an immediately placed implant, a practical follow-up question is: what has changed since baseline? The EFP monitoring guidance below applies to restored implants generally, regardless of placement timing.
The 2023 EFP S3 guideline recommends baseline probing within three months of prosthesis delivery, with repeat probing at each clinical examination. Record probing depths around the implant, ideally at six sites, together with bleeding on probing and the mucosal margin level. Gentle probing matters: the guideline specifies a light force of 0.2 N.
Plan a baseline intra-oral radiograph after physiological remodelling is complete to document marginal bone levels. At later visits, increased probing depth together with bleeding or suppuration is an indication for an intra-oral radiograph to assess those levels.
A practical workflow: keep the dated probing chart and baseline radiograph readily accessible at recall, so the team can compare findings over time. These monitoring recommendations are expert consensus-based, supported by low-quality evidence; clinical interpretation remains essential.
Source: EFP S3 clinical practice guideline, 2023, recommendation R5.4
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpe.13823
How does your team make baseline implant records easy to retrieve at recall?
