title: Long-term observation of porous sapphire dental implants.
abstract: We used porous sapphire dental implants made of alumina clinically for 4 years 1 month, commencing September, 1984 until September, 1988. Subjects consisted of 18 men and 42 women 20-71 years old (mean age: 35 years). Sixty-five implants were inserted in 60 patients. Of these, 20 were clinical cases of an implant connected with natural teeth and 45 were free-standing cases. We conducted a follow-up study on these patients over a 23-year period. One implant in 1 patient had to be removed because of postoperative infection and 8 implants in 7 patients had to be removed because of fracturing or detachment of the porous-part. This paper reports 3 cases where implants remained in place for 21-23 years. These cases have all shown good long-term clinical progress.
authors.affiliation: Chiba Hospital General Dentistry, Tokyo Dental College, 1-2-2 Masago, Mihama-ku, Chiba, Japan. totakaha@tdc.ac.jp
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hisanaga
authors.forename: Otoaki
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Miho
authors.forename: Yuta
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Masatake
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsunoda
authors.forename: Kan-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D003442:Crowns; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D015921:Dental Implants; D003776:Dental Porcelain; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D003830:Denture, Partial, Fixed; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016876:Metal Ceramic Alloys; D008875:Middle Aged; D016062:Porosity; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants; D016876:Metal Ceramic Alloys; D003776:Dental Porcelain; D000537:Aluminum Oxide