title: Short implants: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Short implants are manufactured for use in atrophic regions of the jaws. Although many studies report on short implants as ≤10 mm length with considerable success, the literature regarding survival rate of ≤7 mm is sparse.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate the publications concerning short dental implants defined as an implant with a length of ≤7 mm placed in the maxilla or in the mandible.
  
  
  METHODS
  A Medline and manual search was conducted to identify studies concerning short dental implants of length ≤7 mm published between 1991 and 2011. The articles included in this study report data on implant length ≤7 mm, such as demographic variables, implant type, location in jaws, observation time, prostheses and complications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The 28 included studies represent one randomized controlled trial, 12 prospective studies and 10 retrospective studies. The survival rate of short implant was found to be increased from 80% to 90% gradually, with recent articles showing 100%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When severe atrophy of jaws was encountered, short and wide implants can be placed successfully.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology and Implantology, H.K.E. Society's S. Nijalingappa Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Gulbarga, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karthikeyan
authors.forename: Shrikar R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Desai
authors.forename: Rika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Singh