title: Does increasing the number of short implants reduce marginal bone loss in the posterior mandible? A prospective study.
abstract: Marginal bone loss is a concern in the long-term prognosis of short dental implants. The aim of this prospective cohort study was to evaluate the loss when variable numbers of short implants were used in the posterior mandible. The subjects were allocated into three groups according to the number of short implants. The first group was given two, the second three, and the third four. Each patient had radiographs taken immediately after loading and repeated 36 months later. Twenty- three subjects with 65 implants were entered in the three groups. The mean (SD) marginal bone loss was 0.49 (0.04) mm in the two implant group, 0.41 (0.25) mm in the three implant group, and 0.35 (0.25) mm in the four implant group. There were significant differences in marginal bone loss among the three groups (p=0.001), in that the fewer the number of short implant-supported fixed prostheses in the posterior mandible, the greater the marginal bone loss. When we used more short implants the amount of marginal bone loss decreased.
authors.affiliation: Assistant professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Dental School, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran. Electronic address: tabmed@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tabrizi
authors.affiliation: Assistant professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Shiraz Dental School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences ,Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arabion
authors.affiliation: Assistant professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Shiraz Dental School, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences ,Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aliabadi
authors.affiliation: Dental student, student research committee, Shiraz Dental Faculty, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hasanzadeh
mesh_terms: D016301:Alveolar Bone Loss; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D015921:Dental Implants; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007576:Jaw, Edentulous, Partially; D008334:Mandible; D011446:Prospective Studies
chemical_list: D015921:Dental Implants
keywords: Bone loss; Fixed prosthesis; Mandible; Short implant