Treatment of the Edentulous Mandible with Immediatly Loaded Implants

A strict surgical protocol requires a stress free healing period of 3 to 6 months for osseointegration. The level of predictability and high success of current implant therapy have provided cause to reevaluate both the surgical and prosthetic protocol. In 1988 P.D. Ledermann described a technique of loading 4 rigidly bar-splinted implants in the edentulous mandible.The presentation will revisit the approach of immediately loaded cylinder implants by a u-shaped bar in the edentulous mandible. Four grit blasted and acid-etched screw implants (FRIALOC®, FRIATEC AG Mannheim) are placed in the interforaminal area of the mental symphysis. Immediately after implant placement, an impression is made for the fabrication of a mesio-bar superstructure. The implants are loaded as early as one day after surgery with an implant-retained overdenture. It will be demonstrated that osseointegration can be achieved with a high level of predictability if the technique is properly applied. The results of 25 cases of immediate loading will be presented and discussed. The surgical and prosthetic management of mandibular implant-supported overdenture cases may be greatly simplified with the use of this technique in a carefully selected group of patients. Schlagwörter: immediate loading, anterior mandible, patient satisfaction