Palatal sliding strip flap: soft tissue management to restore maxillary anterior esthetics at stage 2 surgery: a clinical report.

A new soft tissue flap design technique, called "the palatal sliding strip flap" (PSSF), has been developed to improve the soft tissue surgical results at stage 2 implant surgery. The purpose of this flap design is to help form papillae between implants and between natural teeth in the anterior area of the maxilla. The flap is designed and managed so that the palatal attached mucosa slides in a labial direction to create papillae and at the same time augment the labial ridge. This surgical approach is valid, predictable, and has a low risk-to-benefit ratio. This new flap design is indicated for a variety of clinical situations, especially for the problematic maxillary soft tissue reconstruction around teeth and implants.