An implant was placed at site #8 when the patient was 15 years old. Now the adjacent tooth #9 appears 2 mm longer. What is the explanation?

Correct answer: B. Continued craniofacial growth — the implant is ankylosed and cannot erupt with the adjacent teeth

• A. Attachment loss would cause recession and apparent lengthening of #8, not #9.
• B. Correct. An implant behaves like an ankylosed tooth. As the alveolus continues to grow vertically into the early twenties, natural teeth erupt with it while the implant stays fixed — producing relative infraocclusion. This is why implants are deferred until growth is complete.
• C. Tooth #9 has an opposing contact, so supraeruption from lost contact does not apply here.
• D. Implants do not migrate apically into bone; they are rigidly osseointegrated.