Implant treatment in an urban general dentistry residency program: a 4-year retrospective study

Little data have been published on the survival rates of implants placed in dental residency programs. This study reports on the outcome of dental implants placed by first-year general dentistry residents in the University of Florida College of Dentistry-Jacksonville Clinic. The patients for this study received both surgical and restorative implant therapy from 1998 to 2002. A total of 108 patients (62 women, 46 men) were treated with dental implants. On average, a patient was 52.9 years old and received 2.6 implants. A variety of simple and complex restorative procedures were performed. Advanced general dentistry residents in conjunction with supervisory faculty treated all cases. The cumulative implant survival was 98.2%. Follow-up varied from 6 months to 4 years after placement. Cases included implants not yet loaded as well as implants loaded for 3 years or more. The findings of this study compare favorably with published studies and were unexpected in light of the residents' limited clinical experience.