IMMEDIATE VERSUS DELAYED LOADING IMPLANTS: RATIONALE AND CONTROVERSIES

Loading implants immediately after their position in alveolar bone crest is a procedure that has become popular in the last decade. The aim of this study is to evaluate the survival rate of 811 immediate loaded implants (ILIs). In the period between January 2008 and December 2013, 877 patients (498 females and 379 males) were operated at the BDD private Practice Clinic (Milan, Italy). The mean post-surgical follow-up was 30±17 months (max – min, 84 – 1). One thousasnd three hundred and eighty-six fixtures (EDIERRE Implant System SpA, Genoa, Italy) were evaluated in the present study, 811 immediately loaded and 575 loaded after 3 months. All patients underwent the same surgical protocol and agreed to participate in a post-operative check-up program. SPSS program was used for statistical analysis. Survival rate (SVR) was 97.3% since only 38 fixtures were lost from a total of 1,348 implants. Cross-tabulation between failures demonstrated slight but significant worse results for ILIs (p= 0.037). There were 28 failures out of 811 ILIs whereas only 10 fixtures were lost out of 565 implants loaded after 3 months. Immediate loading performed in selected cases is a reliable tool for oral rehabilitation.