title: Immediate versus early loading of 6.5 mm-long flapless-placed single implants: a 4-year after loading report of a split-mouth randomised controlled trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the medium-term effectiveness of 6.5 mm-long flapless-placed single implants immediately or early loaded at 6 weeks.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty patients received two single NanoTite external hex Biomet 3i implants each, which were then randomly allocated to be immediately or early loaded according to a splitmouth design. Implants had to be inserted with a minimum torque of >40 Ncm. Provisional crowns were put in slight occlusal contact and replaced by definitive crowns 3 months after loading. Patients were followed for 4 years after loading. Outcome measures were implant failures, biological and biomechanical complications, peri-implant marginal bone level changes, and patient preference.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-nine implants were immediately loaded and 31 early loaded. Four years after loading, no drop-outs occurred. One implant failed in each group within 2 months after loading. Seven patients experienced complications at immediately loaded implants and 6 at early loaded implants. There were no statistically significant differences between groups for implant losses, complications, mean marginal bone level changes and patient preference.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Flapless-placed 6.5 mm-long single implants can be immediately loaded and remain successful up to 4 years after loading. Even longer follow-ups are still needed to evaluate the longterm prognosis of short implants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, University of Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Gioacchino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cannizzaro
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Felice
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ferri
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Viola
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esposito
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss / Q000209:etiology; D003442:Crowns; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D019250:Dental Implants, Single-Tooth / Q000009:adverse effects; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D003794:Dental Restoration, Temporary; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D057893:Immediate Dental Implant Loading / Q000009:adverse effects; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference; D010865:Pilot Projects; D055815:Young Adult