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Sufficient alveolar bone volume and favorable architecture of the alveo-lar ridge are essential to obtain ideal functional and esthetic prosthetic reconstruction following implant therapy.1 Knowledge about the heal-ing process at extraction sites, including contour changes caused by bone resorption and remodeling, is essential. Loss of alveolar bone may occur prior to tooth extraction because of periodontal disease, periapical pathology, or trauma to teeth and bone. Damage of the bone tissues during tooth extraction procedures may also result in bone loss. Finally, alveolar bone atrophy after tooth extraction is a well-known phenomenon.2,3 Histologic investigations in ani-mals4 and humans5,6 have described the healing of extraction sockets. The gross morphologic changes of the alveolar processes after loss of teeth have been evaluated by cephalometric analyses2,7,8 and measurements on study casts.9,10 The resorption of the alveolar process after tooth extraction in the maxilla or mandible is significantly larger at the buccal aspect than a