State of the art of short dental implants: a systematic review of the literature.
BACKGROUND
Short implants (≤8 mm) are manufactured for use in atrophic regions of the jaws. As implant length in many studies has been proven to play a major role in implant survival it is indicated to evaluate survival of short implants in the present literature.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was systematically to evaluate publications concerning short dental implants defined as an implant with a length of ≤8 mm installed in the maxilla or in the mandible with special reference to implant type, survival rate, location of implant site, and observation time.


METHODS
A Medline and a hand search were conducted to identify studies concerning short dental implants of length ≤8 mm published between 1992 and October 2009. The articles included in this study report data on implant length ≤8 mm, implant surface, registered region of installment, observation time, single tooth restorations, supporting overdentures, splinted implants, and implants used for prostheses.


RESULTS
The 27 included studies represent zero randomized clinical trial studies, 15 prospective nonrandomized, noncontrolled clinical trials, 11 retrospective nonrandomized, noncontrolled clinical trials, and one review. Data on 6-mm implants were few and most frequent represented was manufactured Straumann implants representing 441 out of 549 implants. Brånemark implants, 7 mm in length, comprised 1607 implants out of 1808. Straumann implants, 8 mm in length, comprised 2040 out of 2352 implants. Failures varied between 0 and 14.5%, 0 and 37.5% and 0 and 22.9% of the 6-, 7-, and 8-mm-long implants, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Short implant length was not related to observation time, installment region, failures, and dropouts were not specified, subsequently a meta-analysis was not possible to perform.
Scholarship student, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Institute of Odontology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Camilla Albeck
CA
Neldam
Else Marie
EM
Pinholt
D003724:Dental Arch / Q000601:surgery; D015921:Dental Implants; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D006801:Humans; D013499:Surface Properties; D016019:Survival Analysis
D015921:Dental Implants