Immediate functional loading of implants in single tooth replacement: a prospective clinical multicenter study.

Area of Science:

• Dental Implantology
• Prosthodontics
• Oral Surgery

Background:

• Single-tooth replacement is a common dental procedure.
• Immediate functional loading protocols aim to expedite treatment timelines.
• Various implant placement techniques exist, influencing outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the outcomes of immediate functional loading for single-tooth implants using conventional versus osteotome techniques.
• To evaluate implant survival rates and marginal bone loss at 12 months post-loading.

Main Methods:

• 151 subjects requiring single-tooth implants were randomized into three groups: control (delayed loading), test 1 (conventional placement, immediate loading), and test 2 (osteotome technique, immediate loading).
• Clinical and radiographic assessments were conducted at 3 and 12 months.
• Implant survival and marginal bone loss were the primary outcome measures.

Main Results:

• Implant survival rates were high across all groups, with minor differences in failure rates between test groups (2% in test 1, 5.5% in test 2).
• Mean marginal bone loss at 12 months was comparable across all groups (0.31 mm test 1, 0.25 mm test 2, 0.38 mm control).
• No statistically significant differences in bone loss were observed between the immediate loading protocols and the control group.

Conclusions:

• Immediate functional loading of dental implants placed with a conventional technique is a viable alternative for single-tooth replacement.
• The osteotome technique also demonstrated promising results with immediate loading.
• Both immediate loading protocols showed comparable outcomes to delayed loading in terms of marginal bone stability.