Three-year outcomes of tilted dental implants in patients with low bone density

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study was to report the mid-term outcome (3 years) of standard implantswith 20 to 24 mm of length in immediate function with bicortical anchorage for prosthetic rehabilitationof complete edentulous jaws with low-density bone. To this end, clinical, instrumental and 3-year outcomedata of 27 patients with complete edentulous arches and low bone density treated with long implants wereinvestigated. Follow-up examinations were performed at 10 days, 2, 4, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3years after implant placement. Marginal bone was evaluated at baseline (before surgery) and after 1, 2,and 3 years. The survival of the prosthesis was evaluated in terms of function. A prosthesis that needed tobe substituted was considered a failure. A 100% survival rate was observed. All prostheses were in functionduring the follow-up period. No patient was lost during the follow-up. Regarding the short implants, theaverage marginal bone remodelling was 0.09 ± 0.21 at the baseline time point, 0.71 ± 0.32 after 1 year and1.48 ± 0.28 at 3-year follow-up. Similarly, a constant and significant increased average marginal bonewas observed at the sites of long implants. In conclusion, the data reported improved evidence about theclinical success of using long implants (≥20 mm) in immediate function with bicortical anchorage to treatpatients with low bone density and partial or complete edentulous fixed prosthetic rehabilitation.Corresponding author: