Implant placement in prosthodontics practice: a five-year retrospective study

Dental implants have revolutionized dentistry in every aspect of treatment including surgery, restorative dentistry, and orthodontic treatment planning.

This retrospective study analyzes the treatment of completely and partially edentulous patients in a prosthodontics practice and the Edmonton Implant Seminar.

All implant surgery was performed by the prosthodontist. The majority of implants (336) were restored by the prosthodontist (71%). A total of 135 restorations were provided by 12 different general practitioners (29%) in a study group environment.

Of 471 implants that were placed, 453 (96.2%) integrated successfully. Treatment groups were divided into single implant restoration (19.3%), fixed partial dentures (51%), overdentures (12.3%), and mandibular fixed partial denture cantilever (17.6%). Retention of final prosthesis was 99.4%. Of 18 failures, four occurred between Stage I and II surgeries, 11 occurred between Stage II surgery and final impressions, and three occurred after placement of final restorations. All three restorative failures were single implants.

The results indicated that implant placement by a prosthodontist is comparable to the success of previous studies.