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The outcome of oral implants placed in bone with limited bucco-oral dimensions: a 3-year follow-up study
Andy Temmerman1, Johan A J Keestra, Wim Coucke
1Department of Oral Health Sciences, Section of Periodontology, KU Leuven - Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Department of Periodontology, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Aim:
The dimension of the alveolar bone reduces significantly after tooth loss. Clinicians consider a 1-2 mm buccal and lingual bone width mandatory around the implant at placement. This prospective study analysed the outcome of implants inserted in jaws with narrow (≤4.5 mm) buccal bone dimensions.
Material And Methods:
Twenty-eight patients (mean age 63, 89% female) with a narrow alveolar crest (≤4.5 mm in width on CBCT) received 100 implants (3.5 mm) via a two-stage procedure. Intra-oral radiographs were taken at placement, functional loading and after 1, 2 and 3-years of follow-up. Peri-implant bone level alterations were recorded by two calibrated, periodontologists.
Results:
All implants integrated and the cumulative survival rate after 3 years was 100%. The implants were inserted 0.81 mm ± 0.83 subcrestal. At functional loading the bone was located 0.65 mm ± 0.6 apical of the implant shoulder. During 3 years of loading the amount of annual marginal bone loss was 0.17 ± 0.4, 0.05 ± 0.4 and - 0.06 ± 0.1 mm, respectively.
Conclusion:
Based on these data and within the limitations of this study it became clear that implants, placed in sites with limited dimensions (≤4.5 mm width), showed minimal amounts of marginal bone loss during the first 3 years of functional loading.
