Radiographic and Clinical Outcomes of Rooted, Platform-switched, Microthreaded Implants with a Sandblasted, Large-grid, and Acid-etched Surface: A 5-year Prospective Study

Background: There is no data available on the long-term outcomes of a rooted, platform-switched, microthreaded implant with a sandblasted, large-grid, and acid-etched surface.

Purpose: This prospective, longitudinal study evaluated the clinical and radiographic outcomes of rooted, platform-switched, microthreaded and sandblasted, large-grid, and acid-etched (SLA) surface implants for 5 years.

Materials And Methods: Sixty implants were placed in sixty patients with partially edentulous maxillae or mandibles. The permanent prostheses were inserted 2-4 months after implant placement. Clinical and radiographic examinations were performed at follow-up visits scheduled postoperation, prosthesis installation, 1 year, and 5 years after surgery, to assess implant survival and success rates, biological and mechanical complications, and marginal bone loss.

Results: After 5 years' follow-up, four patients withdrawn from the study, and 56 implants achieved a 100% survival rate and 98.2% success rate. Three prosthetic complications occurred, resulting in a success rate for prostheses of 94.6%. The incidence of peri-implant mucositis was 9.1% and no peri-implantitis was diagnosed. The average marginal bone loss at the mesial aspect was 0.46 ± 0.27 mm after 1 year and 0.48 ± 0.27 mm after 5 years. The average marginal bone loss at the distal aspect was 0.46 ± 0.32 mm after 1 year and 0.50 ± 0.35 mm after 5 years.

Conclusion: After 5 years of loading, the rooted, platform-switched, microthreaded, and SLA surface implants showed high survival and success rates, steady crestal bone levels, and excellent long-term clinical outcomes in the soft tissue. Overloading may be related to the marginal bone loss around implants, but the surgical protocol, different sites, and jaw position did not correlate with crestal bone loss.