Long-term follow-up of CeraOne™ single-implant restorations: an 18-year follow-up study based on a prospective patient cohort.

BACKGROUND

Knowledge on long-term clinical performance of more than 5 years on the single-implant CeraOne™ (Nobel Biocare AB, Gothenburg, Sweden) concept is limited.

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to report the long-term clinical performance of the first CeraOne single-implant restorations, installed 17 to 19 years ago.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The group comprised 57 patients provided with 65 CeraOne single-tooth restorations. Sixty-two all-ceramic and three metal-ceramic crowns were cemented between 1989 and 1991. Patients were followed up clinically and with intraoral radiographs at placement, after 1, 5, and between 17 and 19 years after placement.

RESULTS

Data were available for altogether 48 patients, followed up on an average time of 18 years. Excluding deceased patients (n=2) and failed implant patients (n=2), only five patients were lost to follow-up (8.8%). Two implants failed, resulting in an 18-year implant cumulative success rate (CSR) of 96.8%, and altogether eight original single-crown restorations were replaced (CSR 83.8%). The most common reason for crown replacement was infra-position of the implant crown (n=3). Many of the remaining original crowns showed various signs of implant crown infraposition at the termination of the study. In general, the soft tissue at the restorations was assessed to be healthy and comparable with the gingiva at the adjacent natural teeth. Bone levels were on an average stable with only few patients exhibiting bone loss of more than 2mm during 18 years in function.

CONCLUSION

This long-term follow-up study of single-implant restorations shows encouraging results with few implant failures and minimal bone loss over an 18-year period. Original single-crown restorations were replaced more frequently, because of, for example, implant crown infraposition and veneer fractures. The CeraOne concept proved to be a highly predictable and safe prosthodontic treatment.