Short dental implants in the posterior maxilla: a review of the literature

The purpose of this study was to perform a literature review of short implants in the posterior maxilla and to assess the influence of different factors on implant success rate. A comprehensive search was conducted to retrieve articles published from 2004 to 2015 using short dental implants with lengths less than 10 mm in the posterior maxilla with at least one year of follow-up. Twenty-four of 253 papers were selected, reviewed, and produced the following results. (1) The initial survival rate of short implants in the posterior maxilla was not related to implant width, surface, or design; however, the cumulative success rate of rough-surface short implants was higher than that of machined-surface implants especially in performance of edentulous dental implants of length <7 mm. (2) While bone augmentation can be used for rehabilitation of the atrophic posterior maxilla, short dental implants may be an alternative approach with fewer biological complications. (3) The increased crown-to-implant (C/I) ratio and occlusal table (OT) values in short dental implants with favorable occlusal loading do not seem to cause peri-implant bone loss. Higher C/I ratio does not produce any negative influence on implant success. (4) Some approaches that decrease the stress in posterior short implants use an implant designed to increase bone-implant contact surface area, providing the patient with a mutually protected or canine guidance occlusion and splinting implants together with no cantilever load. The survival rate of short implants in the posterior edentulous maxilla is high, and applying short implants under strict clinical protocols seems to be a safe and predictable technique.