Implant stability evaluation by resonance frequency analysis in the fit lock technique. A clinical study.

Surgical procedures for the application of implants in the lateral-superior sectors are affected by the availability of the residual bone. When this condition is lower than 5 mm it is recommended that techniques involving two therapeutic phases, a reconstructive and an applicative one, as reported in the international literature, are adopted. The authors propose here a new method with the potential to apply implants simultaneously with the reconstructive phase. The aim of this longitudinal retrospective study was to evaluate the stability of implants applied with the fit lock technique in the upper maxillarys in us with bone availability lower than 4 mm by measuring resonance frequency at different follow-up periods The seme as urements, carried out on 30 implants, were analysed with specific statistical procedures. The results indicate that the stability of the implants inserted with the fit lock method increases progressively over time in a statistically significant manner. The stability recorded after one year from the insertion (ISQ T2) is significantly higher than that recorded after six months (ISQ T1), and this is significantly higher than that recorded at the time of implant placement (ISQ T0). The implants inserted in the maxillary zones with scarce bone availability and applied with this technique showed a similar stability as reported with other techniques. In light of the results, the authors confirm that the primary stability represents the basic requirement to guarantee a correct healing of the implant and demonstrate that the fit lock technique also all ows reaching this condition when bone availability is minimal.