Factors affecting late fixture loss and marginal bone loss around teeth and dental implants

The predictability and high success rate of implant treatment have averted attention from factors affecting fixture loss and bone loss around implants.

The goal of this study was to retrospectively evaluate late fixture loss and marginal bone loss around implants that have been in function for 5 years and to relate these findings to bone loss in the natural dentition.

One hundred and forty-three consecutively treated patients who had received an implant-anchored fixed prosthesis and completed a 5-year follow-up were selected. Intraoral and panoramic radiographs were used to assess bone loss.

The bone loss was greater around remaining implants in patients who had lost implants after loading. No correlation was found between bone loss around implants and that around teeth. Only 2% of the fixtures were lost during 5 years of functional load. Most fixtures losses occurred in the edentulous maxilla. Seven of the nine patients who lost fixtures were smokers.

These findings show that patients who lost implants also lost more bone around the remaining implants. There was no correlation between bone loss around implants and that around teeth, indicating that different interacting mechanisms are involved.