The Outcome of Implant-Supported Fixed Prostheses from the Prosthodontic Persepctive: Proposal for a Classification Protocol

Purpose: This article proposes a classification protocol for reporting the outcome of implant-supported fixed partial dentures. Materials and Methods: A review of the literature revealed a contrast between the accepted criteria for assessing and presenting the outcome of osseointegrated implants and the deficient and misleading assessment and presentation of the outcome of the prostheses supported by these implants. A classification protocl comprising 6 well-defined fields with objective standards that accounts for retreatment as well as failure is proposed. This protocol has been applied where possible to reports on the outcome of fixed partial dentures in several published articles. Results: In all cases there was a stark difference between the authors' claims of success and the outcome according to the 6-field protocol. It is accepted that the outcome of a given prosthesis does not necessarily correspond to the outcome of the overall prosthodontic treatment, as the latter also invovles an assessment of outcome as perceived by the patient and accounts for planned revisions. Conclusion: If adopted, the proposed protocl would allow meaningful comparisons between prosthesis designs and between different implant systems' capacities to support such designs. It would also assist in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of implant-supported treatments.