Clinical and radiographic assessment of narrow-diameter and regular-diameter implants in the anterior and posterior jaw: 2 to 6 years of follow-up

PURPOSE: The present retrospective clinical study aimed to evaluate and compare the clinical and radiographic parameters, complications, and satisfaction in patients who received fixed prostheses supported by narrow-diameter implants (NDIs) in the anterior and posterior jaw. METHODS: Patients aged ≥30 years who had NDI-supported fixed prostheses in the anterior or posterior region of either jaw for at least 2 years were included. Complications such as chipping of the crown; loosening or fracture of the screw, crown abutment, or implant; and loss of retention were recorded. Clinical peri-implant outcomes and crestal bone loss (CBL) were measured. A questionnaire was used to record responses regarding the aesthetics and function of the fixed restorations. Analysis of variance was used to assess the significance of between-group mean comparisons. The log-rank test was performed to analyze the influence of location and prosthesis type on technical complications. RESULTS: Seventy-one patients (mean age: 39.6 years) provided informed consent with a mean follow-up duration of 53 months. Only bleeding on probing showed a statistically significant difference between NDIs in the anterior and posterior regions. The complication rate for NDIs in the posterior region was significantly higher than that for NDIs in the anterior region (P=0.041). For NDIs, CBL was significantly higher around splinted crowns than single crowns (P=0.022). Overall mean patient satisfaction was 10.34±3.65 on a visual analogue scale. CONCLUSIONS: NDIs in the anterior and posterior jaws functioned equally well in terms of peri-implant soft and hard tissue health and offered acceptable patient satisfaction and reasonable complication rates.