The participants will be randomized to one of the three groups: the non-intervention, titanium bone screw (TBS), and alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) groups. The sockets in the non-intervention group will be filled with blood clots only. One TBS will be placed over the labial/buccal plate of the extraction socket in the TBS group on the same day of the extraction. Allograft and resorbable collagen membrane will be used for the ARP group.
An animal study and our pilot human study demonstrated that placing a smooth-surface titanium bone screw (TBS) over the buccal plate of an extraction socket resulted in less dimensional changes of the alveolar ridge along with no adverse effects. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to investigate the effectiveness of TBS application for ridge preservation in comparison to (1) unassisted/non-interventional socket healing and (2) alveolar ridge preservation (ARP) approach using allografts and a membrane.