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Background: Based on three-dimensional implant planning software for computed tomographic (CT) scan data, customized surgical templates and final dental prostheses could be designed to ensure high precision transfer of the implant treatment planning to the operative field and an immediate rigid splinting of the installed implants, respectively. Purpose: The aim of the present study was to (1) evaluate a concept including a treatment planning procedure based on CT scan images and a prefabricated fixed prosthetic reconstruction for immediate function in upper jaws using a flapless surgical technique and (2) validate the universality of this concept in a prospective multicenter clinical study. Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven consecutive patients with edentulous maxillae were included. Treatments were per-formed according to the Teeth-in-an-Hour concept (Nobel Biocare AB, Göteborg, Sweden), which includes a CT scan-derived customized surgical template for flapless surgery and a prefabricated prosthetic suprastructure. Results: All patients received their final prosthetic restoration immediately after implant placement, that is, both the surgery and the prosthesis insertion were completed within approximately 1 hour. In the 24 patients followed for 1 year, all prostheses and individual implants were recorded as stable. Conclusion: The present prospective multicenter study indicates that the prefabrication, on the basis of models derived from three-dimensional oral implant planning software, of both surgical templates for flapless surgery and dental prostheses for immediate loading is a very reliable treatment option. It is evident that the same approach could be used for staged surgery and in partial edentulism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Following connection to the oral cavity, osseointegrated dental implants and surrounding tissues are exposed to microbiologic and biomechanical challenges. The establishment of a firm functional periimplant soft tissue barrier (PSTB) is considered to be important to protect the implant's interface from invasion of bacteria. The current knowledge on the histologic architecture of the PSTB is mainly based on animal experiments. Purpose: The aim of this study was to histologically characterize the PSTB formed in humans around experimental one-piece mini-implants with different surface topography. Materials and Methods: Five patients received a total of 12 experimental titanium, one-piece mini-implants with an oxidized (n = 4), an acid-etched (n = 4), or a machined (n = 4) surface distal to therapeutic implants. Following transmucosal healing of 8 weeks and at abutment connection of the regular implants, the mini-implants were harvested with a layer of surrounding hard and soft tissue. The specimens were fixed and processed for histologic sectioning according to standard procedures. The most central bucco-oral section cut in the long axis was used for morphologic analyses of the PSTB. The vertical soft tissue morphology was quantified using histometric measurements. Results: The overall height of the soft tissue, that is, the biologic width, was around 4 to 4.5 mm and consisted of an epithelial and a supracrestal connective tissue barrier. The junctional epithelium established the attachment to the implant surface, whereas the collagen fibers and fibroblasts of the connective tissue seal were oriented parallel to the implant. The epithelial attachment was shorter at the oxidized and acid-etched surfaces compared with the machined surfaces. Accordingly, the oxidized and acid-etched mini-implants exhibited a longer zone of connective tissue seal. Conclusion: The periimplant soft tissue formed at the experimental one-piece mini-implants in humans was of a character similar to that described in animal studies. The oxidized and acid-etched implants revealed less epithelial downgrowth and longer connective tissue seal than machined implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to analyze the development of implant stability by repeated resonance frequency analysis (RFA) measurements during 1 year in 23 patients treated according to an immediate/early-loading protocol. The objective was also to evaluate the possible differences between failing and successful implants. Eighty-one Brånemark System implants were placed in 23 patients for immediate/early-occlusal loading in all jaw regions. Thirty of the implants were placed in extraction sockets and 62 were subjected to GBR procedures. Apart from clinical and radiographic examinations, the patients were followed with RFA at placement, prosthesis connection and after 1–3, 6 and 12 months. Statistical analyses were carried out to study the possible differences between implants that failed during the study period and implants that remained successful. Nine implants failed (11.2%) during the 1 year of loading. RFA showed a distinct different pattern between the implants that remained stable and the implants that were lost. The implants that failed during the course of the study showed a significantly lower stability already after 1 month. Within the limitations of this study, it is concluded that failing implants show a continuous decrease of stability until failure. Low RFA levels after 1 and 2 months seem to indicate an increased risk for future failure. This information may be used to avoid implant failure in the future by unloading implants with decreasing degree of stability with time as diagnosed with the RFA technique. To cite this article: Glauser R, Sennerby L, Meredith N, Rée A, Lundgren AK, Gottlow J, Hämmerle CHF. Resonance frequency analysis of implants subjected to immediate or early functional occlusal loading. Successful vs. failing implants. Clin. Oral Impl. Res. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study on the short-term success rates of TiUnite-surfaced immediate occlusally loaded Brånemark System Mk IV dental implants placed in various regions of the jaws. Materials and methods; Results; Conclusions.