Technical and biological complications/failures with single crowns and fixed partial dentures on implants:: a 10-year prospective cohort study

Objectives: To assess prospectively over 10 years the incidences of technical and/or biological complications and failures occurring in a cohort of consecutive partially edentulous patients with fixed reconstructions on implants of the ITI (R) Dental Implant System. Methods: Eighty-nine patients were available, 34 (38.2%) were male, 55 (61.8%) were female. At the 10-year examination (range 8-12 years), they were 58.9 years old (range 28-88 years). Results: Single crowns (SC): 48 patients had been restored with 69 SC on 69 implants. Five of the implants with the crowns were lost because of biological failures. Two crowns (2.9%) were remade because of technical failures. Total failure amounted to seven (10%). Implant borne fixed partial dentures (I-I FPD): In 29 patients who had been restored with 33 implant borne suprastructures, the total number of failed I-I FPD was 2 (6.1%). Tooth-implant borne fixed partial dentures (I-T FPD): In 21 patients, 22 mixed tooth-implant borne reconstructions were constructed. The number of failed FPD reached 7 (31.8%). Statistically significantly fewer biological failures occurred with I-I FPD compared with the I-T FPDs (ANOVA, Bonferroni, P=0.022). The I-T FPDs experienced statistically significantly more frequent technical failures compared with the other two groups of suprastructures (P=0.003, 0.031). Consequences of complications: The occurrence of loss of retention as a complication increased the odds ratio (OR) to 17.6 (P < 0.001) to end up in a technical failure. Similarly, the event of a porcelain fracture increased the OR for the suprastructure to be a failure at 10 years to 11.0 (P <= 0.004). Treatment of periimplantitis increased the OR to 5.44 (P <= 0.011) to result in a biological failure compared with implants in which this type of treatment was not applied. Conclusion: The three groups of suprastructures demonstrated marked differences in their patterns of failures and complications. Complications increased the risk for failure. Support by CRF, University of Berne, Switzerland.