A radiographic comparison of crestal bone loss around one-staged and two-staged implants. An invivo study

Purpose: To compare the crestal bone loss (CBL) around implants placed in a submerged or non submerged procedure using radiovisiography. Materials and Method: Implants were placed in the posterior mandible in a split mouth study design. In each edentulous area one implant was inserted using a nonsubmerged procedure (Group 1) where healing abutments were placed after implant installation and in the other implant was placed using a conventional surgical approach (Group 2). A total of 10 implants were placed in 5 patients. Standardized radiovisiographs were taken immediately after implant insertion, 3 months after implant placement, and 6 months after implant placement. The data were analyzed using ImageJ software and subjected to paired t-test. Results. Three and 6 months after implant placement, the one-stage implants showed significantly more CBL (0.43±.04mm), (0.3±.06mm) than two-stage implants (0.35±07mm), (0.2±.02mm) respectively. Significant differences were found in terms of CBL in the treatment groups being investigated. Conclusion: One-stage implants showed significantly more CBL than two-stage implants.