Long-term clinical effectiveness of oral implants in the treatment of partial edentulism. Seven-year life table analysis of a prospective study with ITI dental implants system used for single-tooth restorations.

One hundred and eight-seven ITI implants were prospectively followed from November 1992 to July 2000, in order to evaluate the clinical efficiency and the long-term prognosis in 109 partially edentulous patients (69 women and 40 men; average age 41.3 years). Of these 187 implants, 69.5% were placed in the mandible and 30.5% in the maxilla. After a healing period that ranged from three to six months, the osseointegrated implants (n = 184) were restored with single crowns. Three implants were extracted prior to loading the fixture and were considered early failures. Each implant was reassessed on a yearly basis, both clinically and radiographically. The results of the investigation, which were evaluated according to predefined success criteria, were reviewed in accordance with a life table method. During the follow-up, six cases were deemed to be late failures. In each of these cases, a suppurative infection of the peri-implant tissue was diagnosed: in one implant, the infection could not be eradicated and the implant was removed. When 11 drop-outs were included in the analysis, the cumulative survival and success rates for the whole sample group were 96.77% and 93.6%, respectively. When only prosthetically loaded implants were considered, the results increased to 99.35% for the cumulative survival rate and 96.18% for the cumulative success rate. The analysis on disaggregated data showed better results for maxillary restorations (survival rate 100%) in comparison to mandible restorations (survival rate 95.11%). It was concluded that, under standard anatomic conditions (bone site height > 8 mm, thickness > 6 mm), prosthetic restoration of partially edentulous patients with the ITI system can be described as a reliable and efficient therapy in the long term.