Abstract
Dental implants are a successful treatment modality for missing teeth; however, failures do occur. These failures can occur early in the healing process after primary stability has been achieved at the time of implant placement, or after initial bone remodeling and new bone growth have taken place. The ability to detect implants that are failing or will fail is still not possible. The aim of the present study is to see if correlations exist between RFA values and histologic and histochemical evaluation of the human retrieved implants for failure. In a 5 year period, 37 root form implants were retrieved because of mobility and underwent histological examination. Thin ground sections were obtained from each implant. All the implants had been removed with a 5 mm trephine. In all cases a peri-implant radiolucency was present. Before implant retrieval, the implant stability was evaluated with OsstellTM (Integration Diagnostics AB, Gothenburg, Sweden). All the implants were not osseointegrated clinically and mobility was present. Radiographically, bone loss was observed around the implants and the mean ISQ values was 37 (+/- 2.7). A scarce inflammatory cell infiltrate was present in the connective tissue of some specimens. In about 10% of specimens, the epithelium tended to surround the total perimeter of the implant. These data suggest that implants with an ISQ <40 are irretrievably lost and there is no possibility to save them. A statistically significant correlation was found between an ISQ<36 and irretrievably failed implants.