How old is old for implant therapy in terms of implant survival and marginal bone levels after 5-11 years?

Aim: To evaluate implant survival and marginal bone levels (MBL ) at least 5 years after implant installation in patients ≥65 years old.

Methods: Patient records were screened retrospectively for the following inclusion criteria: (1) ≥65 years of age at the time of implant installation, and (2) ≥5-year radiographic follow-up or registered implant loss. Association between patient- and implant-related data with radiographically assessed data [i.e. implant survival, mean MBL (i.e. average of mesial and distal level) and maximum marginal bone loss (i.e. either mesial or distal loss; maximum MBL )] were statistically evaluated by mixed effects multi-level regression models.

Results: Two-hundred-eighteen implants in 74 patients were included with a mean follow-up of 6.2 years (range: 5 to 10.7 years); four early and six late implant losses have been registered (implant survival rate: 95.4%). Mean MBL and maximum MBL was 1.24 ± 0.9 mm and 1.48 ± 1.0 mm, respectively. Maximum MBL  < 2 mm, 2 to 5 mm and ≥5 mm was found in 70.7, 28.8 and 0.5% of the implants, respectively. For both, mean MBL and maximum MBL , age presented a slightly protective effect (mean MBL : Coef. -0.041, p = .016; maximum MBL : Coef. -0.045, p = .014).

Conclusion: The high implant survival rate (95.4%), low mean MBL (1.24 mm) and low frequency of maximum MBL  ≥ 5 mm (0.5%) observed herein after 5 to 11 years follow-up suggest that older age should not be considered as a limiting factor for implant treatment.