Clinical outcome of 802 immediately loaded 2-stage submerged implants with a new grit-blasted and acid-etched surface: 12-month follow-up.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcome of delayed or immediately loaded implants of 3 different implant macrodesigns. The hypothesis was that no significant differences in implant success would be observed between immediately and delayed loaded implants.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Between July 2003 and December 2003, 321 patients were consecutively enrolled for this study. Immediate loading was performed in cases where the implant stability quotient (ISQ) values were > 60 (as determined by resonance frequency analysis) and implant insertion torque was > 25 Ncm. In the case of delayed loading, a submerged technique (2-stage) or a single-stage procedure was used. The following variables were statistically analyzed with logistic regression: implant length, implant diameter, implant type, implant site, insertion torque, ISQ, and type of loading (immediate or delayed).

RESULTS

Eight hundred two implants were placed. Immediate loading was chosen for 423 implants and delayed loading for 379 implants. All implants were followed up for a minimum of 12 months after prosthetic loading. Only 3 implants were lost, with an overall success rate of 99.6%. No statistically significant differences were found for any variables between the failures in the 2 groups (immediate loading protocol versus delayed loading). Implants with a crestal bone loss greater than 0.2 mm during the first year of observation (69 cases) were evaluated as a group; within this subset, only ISQ value (P < .004), implant length (P < .002), and implant type (P < .049) had a statistically significant effect on crestal bone resorption.

CONCLUSIONS

Based upon this study of 802 implants, no significant differences in implant success were observed between the 2 groups.