Patient-centred rehabilitation of edentulism with an optimal number of implants. A Foundation for Oral Rehabilitation (FOR) consensus conference.

Complete edentulism is a common problem in many countries and can be a serious disability. It concerns about one-fifth of the adult world population, in some countries reaching 50% at the age of 50. The decline in the prevalence of edentulism is offset by the increase of the elderly population. This leads to an increasing demand for implant-based treatments by the potential population of the 150 million who are completely edentulous. The members of the consensus conference agreed that, when surgery is considered as a treatment option for edentulism, it should be seen as elective surgery.