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Purpose: To compare short implants (SH; 4‐8 mm) to standard implants (ST; longer than 8 mm) in edentulous jaws, evaluating pri‐implant marginal bone levels (MBLs) changes, implant failures (IFs), complications, and prosthesis failures (PFs). Materials and Methods: Electronic searches were conducted through the PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Scopus, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov to locate all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing SH to ST. Meta‐analysis procedures were performed on the weighted mean difference (WMD) and standardized mean difference (SMD) of MBLs using Stata. Results: Twenty‐three articles were included in this review. The WMD of MBLs when comparing SH to ST in both jaws up to 1‐year follow‐up was statistically significant preferring SH (WMD: −0.09 [CI: −0.12, −0.06], I2: 67.0%). The efficacy of SH vs ST on SMD of MBLs was moderate (SMD: −0.43 [CI: −0.57, −0.28], I2: 55.7%). There were no significant differences in IF (RR: 0.75 [0.44,1.27]) and PF (RR: 0.58 (0.22,1.581), and significantly higher biological complications (RR: 0.25 [0.15, 0.40]) for SH was observed compared to the ST in both jaws up to 1‐year follow‐up. Conclusions: SH and ST implants showed the comparable outcomes except biological complication preferring SH. Future systematic review and meta‐analysis with longer and larger RCTs are required to confirm the present outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Short implants have been proposed as an alternative for the rehabilitation of atrophic edentulous areas. Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of 4‐mm implants vs longer implants in the atrophic posterior mandibles. Materials and Methods: Eleven patients with bilateral atrophic mandibles were rehabilitated with two to four 4‐mm implants and 10 or 8‐mm long implants in augmented bone using Guided Bone Regeneration procedure. One side of the mandibles was randomly allocated to vertical augmentation with mixed autogenous bone and allograft. Implants were placed in both sides of the mandible after 6 months, and loaded after another 2 months. Subsequently, implant and prosthesis failures, marginal bone levels changes, and any complication were evaluated after 1‐year follow‐up. Results: In this study, one patient dropped out and no failures occurred. However, 4‐mm implants loss of 0.30 ± 0.34 mm peri‐implant marginal bone and long implants loss of 0.47 ± 0.54 mm marginal bone were observed after 1‐year of follow‐up. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant (difference = −0.16 ± 0.68 mm; P = 0.46). Eight complications occurred in five augmented sites of the patients, and no complication was found to occur in the short implants sites. Conclusions: One‐year after loading, 4‐mm implants had similar outcomes as long implants in augmented bone. Therefore, short implants might be a feasible treatment in atrophic mandibles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]