PEP · Prefabricated Emergence Profile

About PEP

A technical description of the prefabricated emergence profile: what problem it addresses, how every form is built, what the library contains, and where it stands today.

Updated 29 September 2026 · by Dr. Sajad Ahmadi

Abstract

PEP is a library of healing abutments whose transmucosal part follows the cervical cross-section of the tooth being replaced, instead of a cylinder. Each form rises from the implant connection to an anatomic rim along one concave curve, keeps the connection and the screw channel exactly as designed by the implant maker, and is available in several gingival heights, with offsets for implants placed away from the tooth position and, on most forms, with suture ports. The library holds 45 forms and 868 print-ready STL files on the JD Icon Plus Ti-base; a configurator, Design your PEP, builds individual variants on order. PEP is a design in development and has not been clinically validated.

1. The problem: the shape the tissue is given

After implant placement, the peri-implant mucosa heals around the transmucosal component in place. A standard healing abutment is round, so the soft-tissue tunnel it leaves is round, while the natural cervical outline of a tooth is not: incisors are triangular to oval, premolars oval, molars rectangular to square with rounded corners. The mismatch is corrected later — by sculpting the tissue with provisional crowns over several visits, or by designing a custom healing abutment for each case.

The contour of the transmucosal part is commonly described in two zones: the critical contour, just below the gingival margin, which sets the margin position and the outline of the tissue; and the sub-critical contour, deeper, whose volume can be kept slim or concave to leave space for the soft tissue.

Su H, González-Martín O, Weisgold A, Lee E. Considerations of implant abutment and crown contour: critical contour and subcritical contour. Int J Periodontics Restorative Dent. 2010;30(4):335–343.

2. The design

1. Implant platform and the untouched Ti-base connection (seat, anti-rotation, Ø 2.32 mm screw channel)
2. Sub-critical zone: one concave curve from the platform to the rim — no steps, no bulges
3. Critical contour: the top band under the rim, traced from a natural cervical section
4. Rim: the anatomic outline at the gingival margin
5. Gingival height (GH): 0.5, 1.5, 3 or 4 mm of transmucosal height

2.1 Rims from real teeth

Every rim is traced from a natural cervical cross-section. The library is ordered like a dental chart, from central incisor to extra-large molar, and the G series grades molar and premolar rims by size, from small to extra large.

1. A round healing abutment: the tissue heals into a circle
2. A PEP rim: the tissue heals into the outline of the tooth
3. The implant platform stays the same under both

2.2 One concave curve

Between the platform and the rim runs a single concave curve. There is no shoulder, no step and no bulge in the sub-critical zone, so the form widens only where the tooth outline requires it and leaves the deeper tissue its volume.

2.3 The connection is never touched

The seat, the connection geometry and the Ø 2.32 mm screw channel are kept exactly as the implant maker designed them; only the form above them changes. Every file is checked for a closed mesh, an unchanged connection and wall thickness before it joins the library.

2.4 Offsets: when the implant is not where the tooth was

1. The rim stays where the tooth was
2. The screw channel moves to the implant: 1, 2 or 3 mm
3. Four directions: mesial, distal, buccal, lingual

Offset versions are meant for moderate discrepancies between the implant position and the tooth position. They are not a solution for implants placed outside the prosthetic envelope.

2.5 Suture ports

1. Ø 1.15 mm channel through the flare
2. Trumpet-shaped entry that guides the needle
3. Rounded exit, so the suture does not cut

Most forms come in two versions: plain and simple to print, or with suture ports to secure the flap around the form. The narrowest rims come plain, because the wall would be too thin for a safe port.

3. Specifications

Forms

45 anatomic forms, incisors to extra-large molars

Files

868 print-ready STL

Connection

JD Icon Plus Ti-base; JD multi-unit on order (Design your PEP)

Platform

Ø 3.05 mm

Screw channel

Ø 2.32 mm, unchanged

Rim size

mesio-distal 4.2–10.9 mm · bucco-lingual 6.0–11.7 mm

Gingival heights

0.5, 1.5, 3 and 4 mm

Offsets

1, 2 and 3 mm · mesial, distal, buccal, lingual

Suture ports

Ø 1.15 mm, on most forms

Made to order

rim size 85–115 %, half-millimetre offsets, rim edges ±1 mm, sub-critical contour ±1 mm

Multi-unit

JD multi-unit base Ø 4.82 mm, heights 4.75–7 mm, engaging, original screw

File format

STL in millimetres, Z up, base at Z = 0

Checks

closed mesh · connection unchanged · wall thickness

Status

design in development · not clinically validated · not a certified medical device

4. What is new

• The anatomic shape is there on the first day of healing — before any provisional, and without a design step per patient.
• Rims come from real cervical sections, not from a scaled circle or a generic oval.
• A complete, ordered library: every tooth position, several sizes, four gingival heights, twelve offset positions, with or without ports.
• The implant connection is kept exactly as designed; only the emergence changes.
• Every file is verified before release, and every form can be turned, measured and compared in 3D in the browser.
• An open configurator — Design your PEP — for the cases the library does not cover.

5. Design your PEP

The library answers the common case. Design your PEP answers the rest: start from any of the 45 forms, choose the connection — the JD Icon Plus Ti-base or the JD multi-unit — then set the height, the rim length and width, where the implant sits under the rim, the suture ports, the sub-critical contour and the rim edges. Raising the mesial and distal edges supports the papilla; the critical contour, the top 0.1 mm, stays and is the limit. The order is built with the same PEP pipeline, checked the same way, and delivered as an STL to download.

1. Approved contour
2. Your contour: sub-critical slimmer or fuller, ±1 mm
3. Rim edges raised or lowered at each side, ±1 mm, to support the papilla

6. How it compares today

The table compares the options on design and workflow criteria only. It is not a comparison of clinical outcomes, which for PEP have not yet been studied.

7. Status and responsibility

PEP is a design in development. It has not been clinically validated and it is not a certified medical device. The files are provided for evaluation and research; any clinical use is the clinician’s decision and responsibility under local rules, including the choice of a material and a manufacturing process validated for the purpose. PEP is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by any implant manufacturer; JD Icon Plus is a trademark of its owner.

How to cite

Ahmadi S. PEP — Prefabricated Emergence Profile: a library of anatomic healing abutments. pepimplant.com; 2026.

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