Survival of dental implants placed in a postgraduate educational setting: a retrospective cohort study

Dental implant treatment can still fail due to various factors. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to assess the influence of operator experience in a postgraduate educational setting, as well as patient, implant, and surgical risk factors on the incidence of the dental implant failure.

The dental records of 1049 implants with a mean follow-up of 794.70 days were analysed. Variables included operator experience (year of specialty study) and clinic-pathological patients' related variables. Clinic-pathological associations were explored and a Cox regression model accounted for implant survival factors.

Multivariate analysis revealed that a history of periodontitis and smoking were the only factors with independent prognostic value, with hazard ratios of 2.0 (95 % CI: 1.0-4.0, p = 0.048) and 1.9 (95 % CI: 1.0-3.6, p = 0.039) respectively. Conversely, despite implant treatment delivered by early career students had a higher failure rate (5.6 %) compared to advanced career students (3.7 %), this difference was statistically significant only in the univariate analysis.

Periodontitis and smoking are independent prognostic variables, with career level potentially biasing complex case allocation to advanced students. Targeted educational interventions, including virtual reality and artificial intelligence, should be emphasized in student training. University-based implant trials must consider operator career stage.

The study underscores the importance of operator experience in dental implant success. It highlights that while clinical experience influences outcomes, factors like a history of periodontitis and smoking are independent predictors of implant failure. These findings emphasize the need for targeted educational interventions to improve clinical training and patient outcomes.