Clinical and Radiographic Outcomes of Immediately Loaded Dental Implants After Tertiary Alveolar Bone Grafting in...

ObjectiveTo evaluate the clinical and radiographic outcomes of immediately loaded dental implants in patients with non-syndromic alveolar cleft following tertiary alveolar bone grafting (TABG).DesignProspective single-arm interventional clinical study.SettingSingle tertiary care centre.ParticipantsThirty non-syndromic patients (≥16 years) with a missing permanent tooth at the cleft site and previous secondary alveolar bone grafting.InterventionsTABG using autologous anterior iliac corticocancellous or mandibular symphyseal grafts, followed by titanium implant placement and immediate non-functional loading based on intraoperative assessment of primary stability, with recording of implant stability quotient (ISQ). Definitive functional loading was performed at 3 months, with final follow-up at 6 months post-loading.Main Outcome MeasuresClinical parameters (gingival index, plaque index, probing depth, width of keratinized gingiva, bleeding on probing, suppuration, pain/tenderness and mobility) alongside cone beam computed tomography-derived marginal bone loss (MBL) and ISQ, assessed at 3 and 6 months. Implant survival was analysed using Kaplan-Meier analysis.ResultsGraft success was achieved in 25/30 cases (83.3%), with implant placement feasible in 24 (96%). Six implants failed by 3 months follow-up due to mobility; remaining 18 demonstrated significant improvement in all clinical parameters with ISQ increasing from 63.88 ± 8.27 to 68.38 ± 7.90 (P < .001). Mean MBL was 0.38 ± 0.21 mm, within acceptable limits. No further failures occurred following definitive loading. Overall implant survival was 75% (18/24 implants) at 9 months.ConclusionWithin the limitations of this study, immediately loaded implants demonstrated acceptable short-term clinical and radiographic outcomes following TABG in young adults with non-syndromic alveolar clefts.