A prospective follow-up study of 44 mandibular immediately loaded implants using resonance frequency analysis: preliminary 1-year results

This clinical study aimed to evaluate initial, 4-months, and 1-year stability of immediately loaded dental implants inserted according to a protocol of lower rehabilitation with prefabricated bars. The sample was composed of 11 edentulous patients. In each patient, 4 interforaminal implants were inserted. Immediately after implant installation, resonance frequency analysis (RFA) for each fixation was registered as well as after 4 months and 1 year with the prosthetic bar removed as it is a screwed system. The clinical implant survival rate was 100%. The RFA showed an increase in stability after 4 months from 64.09 +/- 6.48 to 64.31 +/- 4.96 and 1 year, 67.11 +/- 4.37. The analysis of variance showed a statistically significant result (P = 0.015) among implant stability quotient values for the different periods evaluated. Tukey test results showed statistically significant differences between 1-year results and the initial periods but there was no statistically significant difference between initial and 4-month results (P > 0.05). These preliminary 1-year results indicate that immediate loading of mandibular dental implants using the studied prefabricated bars protocol is a reliable treatment as it is in accordance with the results described in the literature for other similar techniques.