Anodic oxidized implants inserted into fresh frozen bone grafts

BACKGROUND: In the last decade, several investigators have reported that anodic oxidized surfaceimplants (AOSIs) have achieved excellent results. However, there have been no reports regarding AOSIs inserted into homografts. OBJECTIVE: A retrospective study on a series of AOSIs inserted intohomologue grafts is performed in order to evaluate their clinical outcome. PATIENTS and METHODS: In the period between December 2003 and December 2006, 24 patients (17 females and 7 males with a median age of 52 years) were operated on and 91 AOSIs inserted. The mean implant follow-up was 29 months. Implant diameter and length ranged from 3 to 5 mm and from 8 to 16 mm, respectively.Implants were inserted to replace 7 incisors, 4 cuspids, 39 premolars and 41 molars. RESULTS: Only 2out of 91 implants were lost (i.e. survival rate SVR = 97.8%). Graft site (i.e. maxilla); implant site (i.e.cuspids and incisors) and implant diameter (i.e. narrow and standard diameter) correlated with astatistically significant lower delta Implant Abutment Junction (IAJ) (i.e. reduced crestal bone loss) andthus, a better clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Homologues bone is a reliable material for the insertionof fixtures. AOSIs had a high survival and success rate similar to those reported in previous studies oftwo-stage procedures in non-grafted bone. AOSIs inserted into homografts can be considered reliabledevices, although a higher marginal bone loss has to be expected in grafted mandibles, in premolar and molar regions and when wide diameter implants are used.