Ridge preservation

Mauricio, do the alveolar ridge preservation measures belong exclusively in the hands of specialists?

No, every general practitioner is capable of pulling a tooth. But it is a fact that performing ridge preservation techniques requires more planning and causes some immediate additional costs for the patient. This is probably one of the main reasons why practitioners are less willing to propose more sophisticated treatments. The big challenge is to educate the practitioners on the advantages of ridge preservation for the benefits of a better long-term outcome. It is therefore indispensable to create more awareness for this topic.

Is ridge preservation limited to the anterior region, or can you also see advantages in applying in the posterior region?

Of course there is no limitation. Due to aesthetic reasons, the anterior region is probably the most common region where you perform ridge preservation. But there is no reason to rule out using it for the posterior region when it is beneficial to the patient. By performing ridge preservation in this region you may, for example, prevent a sinus lift procedure as suggested in the study of Rasperini et al (2010).