To Preserve or Not to Preserve the Ridge? Practical Guidelines for favorable prosthetic outcomes

Tooth extraction is among the most common procedures in daily practice, yet the question often arises: which technique or approach should be chosen to manage the post-extraction socket? Evidence and clinical experience consistently show that maintaining ridge dimensions at the time of extraction can deliver more predictable outcomes than attempting reconstruction later. Not every site is destined for an immediate implant, and there is no single ridge preservation protocol that fits all post-extraction sockets. This lecture presents practical, biologically driven guidelines for ridge preservation, helping clinicians make sound decisions based on socket anatomy and soft tissue conditions. Clinical examples and evidence-based reasoning will illustrate how simple, well-planned procedures can ensure more predictable and prosthetically favorable outcomes.