Midterm survival rates of progressive thread dental implants - a retrospective study of 9617 implants in 4253 patients

Purpose Since decades, dental implants have been used with great success for oral rehabilitation after tooth loss. Although abundant literature has been published in this field, there is still need for mid- to long-term studies evaluating high numbers of dental implants placed in large patient collectives. Herein, we present the analysis of an extensive database including the assessment of potentially influencing factors on implant survival rates. Methods In this retrospective study, patient data from 03/2016 to 10/2024 were collected and analyzed. Collected data included sex, age, date of surgery, date of implant loss, location, number, length, and diameter of implants, open versus flapless surgery, smoking, osteoporosis, and diabetes. Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate these factors with regard to their potential influence on implant survival rates. Results 9617 dental implants placed in 4253 patients (2444 women and 1809 men) could be analyzed. The mean follow-up was 2.01 years. The cumulative survival rate was 0.990 after 1 year, 0.981 after 3 years, 0.969 after 5 years, and 0.936 after 7 years. Multivariate analyses revealed the following risk factors: increasing diameter (p = 3.0x10 ^-4 ), absence of osteoporosis (p = 0.036), lower number of implants (p = 0.045). Conclusions Our study showed high survival rates of progressive thread dental implants comparable to results reported in international literature. Survival rates were significantly influenced by implant diameter, number of implants, and osteoporosis. Implant length, jaw region, surgical approach, diabetes, smoking, and sex did not show a significant influence on implant survival.