Long term study of implant supported fixed prostheses in the edentulous mandible A comparison between early versus delayed loading

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical outcome and patient satisfaction in patients treated with implant supported fixed mandibular prostheses (ISFMP) according to early and delayed loading implant protocols. Materials and methods: Inclusion criteria comprised all consecutive patient treated between 1999 and 2004. A total of 111 patients had received ISFMP during the period, of which 84 (40 men, 44 women) participated in the study (mean age 68 years, range 47-90). 44 of the patients were treated with early and 40 with delayed loading. The registrations included a clinical examination, radiographs, data collected from patient records and a questionnaire. Results: A total number of 84 prostheses were performed on 380 implants. The mean observation time was 3.5 years (range 1-6 years). Prosthesis and implant survival rate was 93.2% and 96.5% for early loading and 97.5% and 96.7% for delayed loading. The mean radiographic bone loss during the first year was 0.5 mm for the early and 0.1 mm for the delayed loading group. More patients experienced complications in the early loading group (32%) compared to the delayed loading (25%). Generally, patients treated according to the early loading concept were more satisfied. Conclusion: The hypothesis that the concept of early loading has the same predictability as delayed loading was to great extent supported.