Publications by authors named "Alan Meltzer"

The long-standing assumption that active infection is a contraindication for immediate implant placement has been challenged recently. High implant survival rates have been reported even when implants were placed immediately in infected extraction sockets and provisionalized within 36 hours. To further evaluate the impact of nonocclusal loading on implants placed in cleaned periodontically or endodontically infected extraction sites, this retrospective study examined the results of 77 implants placed in 63 patients and followed for between 3 and 24 months.

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Following the exposure and restoration of two-piece dental implants, some change in the vertical level of the peri-implant crestal bone height has been reported. This change in crestal bone height has not, however, negatively impacted long-term implant success. This article describes how the concept of platform switching is incorporated into a new implant design as a means of reducing or eliminating the occurrence of crestal bone loss.

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For years, dental implants have been loaded immediately upon implant placement with varying degrees of success. As clinicians' understanding of the biological and mechanical factors involved in immediate occlusal loading (IOL) has evolved, the success of these procedures has increased--particularly as a treatment option for the restoration of the edentulous mandible or the mandible that will be rendered edentulous during treatment. Due to increasing interest in this treatment alternative, the authors have provided a clear definition of the terminology associated with IOL and have demonstrated the DIEM Guidelines used to increase the success and predictability of such treatment.

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Objective: This paper reports the results of a prospective multicenter clinical study on immediately fully occlusally loaded full-arch screw-retained prostheses with distal extensions (hybrid prostheses) supported by Osseotite implants inserted in edentulous lower jaws.

Method And Material: Sixty-two patients were enrolled in four clinical centers. Three hundred and twenty-five Osseotite implants were inserted and occlusally loaded according to an immediate loading protocol.

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Failure of dental implants to achieve osseointegration is often attributed to patient baseline variables, such as smoking. This meta-analysis examines outcomes of clinical studies that monitored the performance of machined-surfaced and Osseotite, implants; the analysis also isolates the effect of smoking. The implant data for the machined-surfaced implants are derived from three prospective multicenter studies (n = 2,614) and from six prospective studies (n = 2,274) for the Osseotite implants.

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