Immediate Implants and Immediate Loading in Periodontally Compromised Patients - A 3-Year Prospective Clinical Study

To avoid the necessity of a removable provisional prosthesis, and therefore preserve the patient's functional outcome, esthetics, and quality of life, a clinical protocol was developed to approach periodontally compromised patients presenting a full-arch irreversibly lost dentition: full-arch extraction and immediate replacement with a provisional acrylic resin implant-supported fixed partial denture (FPD). A total of 23 periodontally compromised patients (11 women, 12 men; 4 smokers, 4 controlled diabetics) were included in this study. Pretreatment casts were taken and vertical dimension of occlusion was determined. In most patients, 6 Straumann implants were distributed along the arch according to the surgical guide or bone availability, with the most distal ones in the maxilla slightly tilted so they could emerge more distally. A total of 168 implants (146 Straumann, 10 Nobel Biocare, 8 Biomet 3i, and 4 Lifecore) were placed (83 in the maxilla, 85 in the mandible). Of those in the maxilla, 74 were loaded immediately (implant stability quotient mentor [ISQm] > 70) and 9 placed with delayed loading (ISQm = 70). Of the 85 implants placed in the mandible, all were loaded immediately (ISQm > 70). If an FPD had not been fabricated already, impressions were taken during surgery to do so. The prosthesis was then adapted (cemented or screwed) to the 6 implants within the first 48 hours postsurgery. After 2 months, definitive impressions were taken, and a definitive porcelain-fused-to-metal implant-supported 12-element FPD was fabricated and cemented or screwed to all 6 implants. Of the 168 implants, 108 were immediate implants and 159 immediately loaded. Only 2 implants (1 in the mandible, 1 in the maxilla) did not osseointegrate. This yields a 3-year cumulative survival rate of 98.74% (98.65% in the maxilla, 98.82% in the mandible). From a total of 26 immediately loaded prostheses (12 in the maxilla, 14 in the mandible), 6 were cemented and 20 screw-retained. The 3-year cumulative survival rate was 100%. Immediate loading in mandibular and maxillary periodontally compromised patients presents itself as a predictable technique with a 100% cumulative survival rate for provisional and definitive prosthetic rehabilitations.