A retrospective analysis of patients referred for implant placement to a specialty clinic: indications, surgical procedures, and early failures.
OBJECTIVE
This retrospective study analyzed the pool of patients referred for treatment with dental implants over a 3-year period in a referral specialty clinic.


METHODS
All patients receiving dental implants between 2002 and 2004 in the Department of Oral Surgery and Stomatology, University of Bern, were included in this retrospective study. Patients were analyzed according to age, gender, indications for implant therapy, location of implants, and type and length of implants placed. A cumulative logistic regression analysis was performed to identify and analyze potential risk factors for complications or failures.


RESULTS
A total of 1,206 patients received 1,817 dental implants. The group comprised 573 men and 633 women with a mean age of 55.2 years. Almost 60% of patients were age 50 or older. The most frequent indication for implant therapy was single-tooth replacement in the maxilla (522 implants or 28.7%). A total of 726 implants (40%) were inserted in the esthetically demanding region of the anterior maxilla. For 939 implants (51.7%), additional bone-augmentation procedures were required. Of these, ridge augmentation with guided bone regeneration was performed more frequently than sinus grafting. Thirteen complications leading to early failures were recorded, resulting in an early failure rate of 0.7%. The regression analysis failed to identify statistically significant failure etiologies for the variables assessed.


CONCLUSIONS
From this study it can be concluded that patients referred to a specialty clinic for implant placement were more likely to be partially edentulous and over 50 years old. Single-tooth replacement was the most frequent indication (> 50%). Similarly, additional bone augmentation was indicated in more than 50% of cases. Adhering to strict patient selection criteria and a standardized surgical protocol, an early failure rate of 0.7% was experienced in this study population.
Bornstein
Michael M
MM
Department of Oral Surgery and Stomatology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland.
Halbritter
Sandro
S
Harnisch
Hendrik
H
Weber
Hans-Peter
HP
Buser
Daniel
D
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000540:Alveolar Ridge Augmentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003724:Dental Arch / Q000601:surgery; D003740:Dental Clinics; D015921:Dental Implants / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019250:Dental Implants, Single-Tooth / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007576:Jaw, Edentulous, Partially / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult
D015921:Dental Implants