A preliminary report of patients treated with early loaded implants using computerized tomography-guided surgical stents: flapless versus conventional flapped surgery.

The objective of this clinical study was to compare the survival rates of early loaded implants placed using flapless and flapped surgical techniques and to determine the bone density in the implant recipient sites using computerized tomography (CT). The study population consisted of 12 patients who were referred implant placement. One group consisted of five patients referred for the placement of 14 implants and treated with a flapless procedure. The other group consisted of seven patients referred for the placement of 45 implants with a conventional flapped procedure. Patients were selected randomly. CT machine was used for pre-operative evaluation of the jaw bone and the mean bone density value of each implant recipient site was recorded in Hounsfield units (HU). All implants were placed using CT-guided surgical stents. The early loading protocols included 2 months of healing in the mandible and 3 months of healing in the maxilla. Single-implant crowns, implant-supported fixed partial dentures, and implant-retained over dentures were delivered to the patients. Of 59 implants placed, one was lost in the conventional flapped group within the first month of healing, meaning overall implant survival rate of 98.3% average 9 months later. The highest average bone density value (801 +/- 239 HU) was found in the anterior mandible, followed by 673 +/- 449 HU for the posterior maxilla, 669 +/-346 HU for the anterior maxilla and 538 +/- 271 HU for the posterior mandible. The results of this study show that the early loading of implants placed utilizing flapless surgical technique with CT-guided surgical stents may be possible.