5-YEAR PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF PROSTHODONTIC AND SURGICAL SINGLE-TOOTH IMPLANT TREATMENT IN GENERAL PRACTICES AND AT A SPECIALIST CLINIC

Purpose: The aim of this 5-year prospective study was to compare the r esults of single-tooth implant treatments planned and performed at fou r general practitioners' offices with the results from a specialist cl inic. Materials and Methods: The group comprised 38 patients. Nineteen patients with 19 implants/crowns, were planned and treated by four ge neral practitioners, and the outcome was compared to a matched group o f patients from a specialist clinic. Results: Three patients did not c omplete the study. None of the implants failed; one crown failed. This was a very positive result, as the single failure, a crown at the spe cialist clinic, was caused by an extraordinary trauma and was not rela ted to a common cause such as bite forces or fatigue. No significant d ifferences were observed between the groups when the radiographic find ings were compared. Same minor differences, for bleeding and the posit ion of the mucosal level around implants and adjacent teeth, were obse rved between the two groups. Conclusion: The small discrepancies that were observed between treatment performed by the four general practiti oners at their own offices and treatment performed at the specialist c linic were not regarded to be of any clinical importance. This indicat es that complete single-tooth implant treatment may be performed for m any patients by general practitioners who have received adequate train ing, allowing the possibility of referring complicated treatments to s pecialists and other treatments to general practitioners.