Retrospective Multicenter Study of 230 6-mm SLA-Surfaced Implants with 1- to 6-Year Follow-Up

Purpose: Using short implants poses a challenge in implant surgery. Implant surfaces have evolved, making it possible to improve the success of short implants substantially. However, there is still little information about the long-term predictability achieved with short, rough-surfaced implants. The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term survival rate of 6-mm rough implants. Materials and Methods: A retrospective multicenter analysis of the survival of short 6-mm SLA-surfaced implants was conducted. A total of 230 implants placed in 159 patients were included. The follow-up time ranged between 1 and 6 years. Results: Seven of the 230 implants failed, which gives a cumulative survival rate of 96.4%. Two hundred and fourteen implants were placed in the mandible (93.1%), as opposed to 16 placed in the maxilla (6.9%). Five implants failed during the osseointegration period, and two failed after receiving the prosthetic load. No statistically significant differences were found (P .44). Of the loaded implants, 209 were splinted to other implants, as opposed to 14 that were not. One implant failed in each group, resulting in a 99.5% for the splinted implants and 92.9% for the unsplinted implants. No statistically significant differences were found between the splinted and unsplinted groups (P .12). Conclusions: The short implants used in this study displayed high longterm predictability when placed in the mandible and splinted. There is insufficient- information to extrapolate these results to the maxilla and non-splinted implants.