Immediate loading of trabecular metal-enhanced titanium dental implants: interim results from an international proof-of-principle study.
A 3-year proof-of-principle study was initiated to evaluate the clinical efficacy of immediately loading titanium dental implants with surfaces enhanced with porous tantalum trabecular metal (PTTM). First-year interim results are presented. Healthy, partially edentulous patients (n = 30) were enrolled and treated per protocol (minimum insertion torque: ≥35 Ncm) with 37 implants placed in one or two premolar or molar locations in either jaw (study group). Implants were immediately provisionalized out of occlusion with single acrylic crowns. After 7 to 14 days of soft tissue healing, implants were definitively restored in occlusion with ceramometal crowns. Because most study group implants (54.1%, n = 20) had less than 1 year of clinical follow-up, this interim analysis was limited to the first 22 consecutively placed implants in 17 subjects (10 women and 7 men) who completed 1 year of clinical follow-up to date (focus group). To date, one implant failed to integrate in the study group (survival = 97.3%, n = 36/37). Focus group implants achieved 100% (n = 22/22) survival with 0.43 ± 0.41 mm of mean marginal bone loss. There were no serious complications. Early clinical findings indicated that immediate loading of PTTM implants was safe and effective under the controlled study conditions.
PubMed Abstracts
PubMed Abstracts