Current trends in immediate osseous dental implant case selection criteria

Current trends in immediate osseous dental implant case selection criteria
August 2003
By MD McNutt and CH Chou
Journal of Dental Education
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Abstract
As endosseous dental implant therapy rapidly becomes the prosthetic standard of care for a vast array of clinical applications, we are faced with the challenge of developing dynamic treatment planning protocols. This paper will discuss the clinical benefits of immediate implants and outline a synthesis of case selection criteria garnered from amongst current immediate implant trends. Our immediate findings are that although implants have become widely accepted despite controversial beginnings and the available literature consistently cites high levels of success (ranging from 94 to 100 percent on average), there is no universally agreed upon case selection criteria. Our principal conclusion is that the high success rate of endosseous implant therapy has yet to achieve wide public acceptance and utilization. Overcoming barriers to public utilization will greatly depend on our ability as dentists to appropriately select cases and deliver treatment in a timely and cost-effective manner. Further, developing case selection criteria for immediate dental implants will help to overcome these barriers by increasing treatment success rates and minimizing treatment cost and time.