Assessment of Peri-Implant Soft Tissues Conditions around Short and Ultra-Short Implant-Supported Single Crowns: A 3-Year Retrospective Study on Periodontally Healthy Patients and Patients with a History of Periodontal Disease.

The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate implant survival, marginal bone loss and peri-implant complications in 326 short and ultra-short implants. Implants were placed in the maxillary and mandibular posterior regions of 140 patients with (PP) and without (NPP) a history of periodontal disease. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed at 3-year recall appointments. The 8.0, 6.0 and 5.0 mm-length implants placed in PP and NPP were respectively 43.75% and 38.46%, 35.10% and 34.19%, 21.15% and 27.35%; 325 implants (one early failure) were rehabilitated with single crowns in 139 patients. Overall implant survival after 3 years of follow-up was 97.55%, 98.08% and 96.61% for PP and NPP (p = 0.46). Crestal bone level variations were not statistically different among PP and NPP; 15.41% of implants presented signs of mucositis, 14.71% and 16.67% in PP and NPP (p = 0.64). Setting the threshold for bone loss at 2 mm after 36 months, peri-implantitis prevalence was 2.2%, 1.96% and 2.63% in PP and NPP (p = 0.7). Overall implant success was 82.39%, 83.33% and 80.7% for PP and NPP (p = 0.55). Short-term outcomes suggest that short and ultra-short locking-taper implants can successfully be restored with single crowns in the posterior jaws both in PP and NPP.

Building on the proceedings of the McGill conference: implant-retained overdentures in an area of South America.

PURPOSE: Since the McGill consensus conference, numerous reports have proposed the advantages of the 2-implant-retained overdenture over the conventional denture in the restorative management of the edentulous mandible. The purpose of this article was to demonstrate the use of the 2-implant-retained overdenture in the restorative management of patients with edentulous mandibles in an impoverished population. MATERIALS: To address the study's purpose, the investigators initiated a retrospective cohort study and enrolled a sample of subjects who had mandibular 2-implant overdenture treatment using the protocol described within. The primary predictor variable was whether the patient had mandibular 2-implant overdenture treatment. The primary outcome variable was survival of mandibular 2-implantoverdenture treatment as defined within. RESULTS: The study sample included 35 patients each of whom had 2 mandibular implants placed for a total of 70 implants inserted with the purpose of retaining a mandibular overdenture. The mean clinical follow-up time was 74.7 months, during which there were no incidences of implant failure. Therefore, analytical and survival analyses could not be performed. CONCLUSION: Given the increase in quality of life and ease in implementation, clinicians should now be suggesting the mandibular 2-implant overdenture as the treatment of choice in the management of the edentulous mandible.