Short (5.0 × 5.0 mm) implant placements and restoration with integrated abutment crowns

The average length of dental implants has decreased over the years. The rationale behind shorter dental implants includes an expansion of the patient pool that can benefit from dental implants, decreased procedural invasiveness, and subsequent shorter osseointegration and healing periods. While the stability and efficacy of shorter implants have been criticized, research about short implants has continued and led to numerous clinical studies that have demonstrated a comparable clinical effectiveness between short and long implants. This study validates the clinical feasibility of the shortest dental implant available. This article reports on the success of using four 5.0 × 5.0 mm implants in a 56-year-old patient with partial edentulism. The entire treatment was accomplished in 3 clinical visits, concluding with insertion of an Integrated Abutment Crown in each implant site. The success of this case study suggests a potential for decreasing the frequency of complications, such as inferior alveolar canal perforation, and of being able to provide dental implants to individuals who have inadequate alveolar bone levels for conventionally longer implants.