Immediate vs. early loading of SLA implants in the posterior mandible: 5‐year results of randomized controlled clinical trial

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare clinical results of immediate and early loading (EL) self-tapping implants placed in posterior mandibles. Twelve patients with bilateral edentulous posterior mandibular were randomly assigned to treatment either with immediate (test) or early loaded implants (control). Seventy-two self-tapping implants with SLA surface (Ø 4, 1/4, 8 mm; length 8 and 10 mm) were analyzed in this study. Test implants (36) were loaded on the day of surgery and control implants 6 weeks later. The measuring of implant stability quotient (ISQ) was performed on 0, 6th, 12th, and 52nd week after implant insertion. The bone resorption, modified plaque, and bleeding index were notified at 1 and 5 years later. After 5 years, survival in the both groups was 100%. The mean value of primary implant stability was 76.92 ± 0.79 ISQ. In the first 6 weeks, ISQ values significantly increased in the test group (77.92 ± 1.16 vs. 79.61 ± 0.90) as well as in the control group (7.92 ± 1.05 vs. 77.55 ± 0.99). A significant longitudinal increase in ISQ value was recorded in test and control group. The differences between immediate and early loaded implants were statistically insignificant (P > 0.05). At the 5 years, no statistically significant differences were found between immediate and early loaded implants with respect to mean crestal bone loss measurements (0.4 ± 0.24 vs. 0.8 ± 0.15 mm), mean bleeding index (0.22 ± 0.11 vs. 0.25 ± 0.11), and mean plaque index (0.17 ± 0.15 vs. 0.19 ± 0.20). Based on these results, the self-tapping implants inserted in posterior mandible can provide adequate primary stability value as the main factor for immediate and EL protocol.