Performance of titanium alloy sintered porous-surfaced (SPS) implants supporting mandibular overdentures during a 20-year prospective study.

Objective: This study was undertaken to assess short, sintered porous-surfaced (SPS), press-fit implants with mandibular overdentures to restore edentulous patients with severe mandibular resorption.

Materials And Methods: Implant lengths of 7, 8, 9, and 10 mm were used, all with 2-mm polished collars, making the designed intrabony lengths 5, 6, 7, and 8 mm. Each patient received three non-splinted implants placed using a two-stage protocol.

Results: Only 22 (with 53 implants) of the original 52 patients were available after 20 years. All but one of these patients was functioning with their implant-retained overdentures. Life table analysis accounted for all patients and implants, and showed a 20-year survival of 73.4%. Analysis of carefully standardized radiographs revealed mean cumulative bone loss after 20 years of 0.67 mm relative to the polished collar-SPS junction.

Conclusions: Short SPS implants with mandibular overdentures can provide an acceptable treatment over a 20-year period for fully edentulous patients with severe alveolar resorption.