Laser-welded titanium frameworks for implant-supported fixed prostheses: a 5-year report

The 5-year results from a multicenter study of implant-supported, laser-welded titanium frameworks are reported here as a complement to earlier reported 2-year results. Implant survival rates were satisfactory for patients with titanium frameworks and for a control group of patients with gold-alloy frameworks. At the 5-year review, more patients with titanium frameworks had lost implants than the patients with gold-alloy frameworks, but this difference was not statistically significant. More fractures of the titanium frameworks occurred, compared to the gold-alloy frameworks; again, this difference was not statistically significant. No significant differences in marginal bone levels were found between the 2 groups of patients. Slightly more fractures of artificial teeth occurred in patients with titanium frameworks than in patients with gold-alloy frameworks. Overall results for the titanium frameworks after 5 years in function are encouraging.