GENERAL AND LOCAL CONTRAINDICATIONS FOR ENDOSSEAL IMPLANTS - AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC PANORAMIC RADIOGRAPH STUDY IN 65-YEAR-OLD SUBJECTS

In order to evaluate general and local contraindications for implantat ion for 65-yr-old subjects from a medium-sized Finnish city, 431 such persons were examined anamnestically and by means of panoramic radiogr aphs. The population represents 61% of the total age group in the city (born in 1923). It was shown that several degrees of cardiac problems and increased blood pressure followed by pulmonary diseases and diabe tes were the most commonly encountered relative contraindications for implantation. Eleven percent of the patients said that they smoked reg ularly and the bone quality was estimated to be less suitable for impl antation in 21% of the cases. Implantation was evaluated according to the Bonefit(R) system (implant lengths between 6 and 16 mm) in 10 regi ons in the maxilla and 6 regions in the mandible and was shown to be p ossible in 38% of the regions in the partially edentulous maxillae and 50% of those in the partially edentulous mandibles, the corresponding figures for the edentulous jaws were 55% in the maxilla and 61% in th e mandible.