Recent advances in dental implants

Abstract

Dental implants are a common treatment for the loss of teeth. This paper summarizes current knowledge on implant surfaces, immediate loading versus conventional loading, short implants, sinus lifting, and custom implants using three-dimensional printing. Most of the implant surface modifications showed good osseointegration results. Regarding biomolecular coatings, which have been recently developed and studied, good results were observed in animal experiments. Immediate loading had similar clinical outcomes compared to conventional loading and can be used as a successful treatment because it has the advantage of reducing treatment times and providing early function and aesthetics. Short implants showed similar clinical outcomes compared to standard implants. A variety of sinus augmentation techniques, grafting materials, and alternative techniques, such as tilted implants, zygomatic implants, and short implants, can be used. With the development of new technologies in three-dimension and computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) customized implants can be used as an alternative to conventional implant designs. However, there are limitations due to the lack of long-term studies or clinical studies. A long-term clinical trial and a more predictive study are needed.

Keywords: Computer-aided design; Dental implants; Immediate dental implant loading; Osseointegration; Sinus floor augmentation.

Fig. 1

The all-on-4 concept for complete edentulism. It is a concept that rehabilitates the complete edentulism using four implants. The anterior implants are placed vertically and the posterior implants are tilted to avoid anatomical structures such as the maxillary sinus

Fig. 2

The surgical guide for implant placement. CBCT and CAD/CAM are used to produce a surgical guide for implant placement