We put implants under some scrunity
Outside of techniques like whitening, and general dentistry, dental implants are one of the hottest topics in the dental sphere. For that reason, I’m presenting a case from Sweden, where a study was conducted on adults with resorbed mandibles.
Material and Methods:
A new, 4-mm long Straumann SLActive supporting a fixed dental prosthesis (FDP) in a severely resorbed posterior mandible was evaluated for two years.
Thirty-two patients (11 men, 21 women; mean age 64.1 years) participated. Ten to 12 weeks after single-stage surgery, a screw-retained FDP was attached to three or four 4-mm implants.
Results and Discussion:
A total of 100 implants were inserted. Three failed at surgery and four were lost before loading. Twenty-eight patients received FDPs (93 implants).
Two patients were discontinued because of secondary exclusion criteria; therefore, 26 patients were followed up from baseline (BL). After 1 year, one patient insisted on removal of all implants and one patient died because of non-study related complications.
Twenty-four patients (87 implants) were eligible for examination 2 years post-loading. All implants were found to be stable with a 95.7% survival rate after 1 year and 92.3% after 2 years. This may be slightly lower than in similar studies, and may be related to high initial stability and effective use of the residual bone volume with high primary bone-to-implant contact in dense bone structures.
The surgical handling of the tested implant was found to be similar to that of implants of common length. However, the preparation procedure was done with great care to avoid over-drilling.
Careful planning and design of the prosthetic construction was also utilized to prevent unfavourable occlusion and to avoid harmful shear forces.
Conclusions:
This study showed that implants in severely resorbed posterior mandibles can survive for at least 2 years, and with healthy peri-implant conditions.
It appears to demonstrate that even those with teeth long missing and their oral tissues recessed can benefit from implant techniques.
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Image courtesyof: Winnond
