ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Over the last decade, oral implantology has become a major treatment modality to aid the restoration of reduced dentitions. The present study monitored and quantified changes within a 5-year interval (1989-1991 [denoted as 1990*] to 1995) in the provision of different types of implant-supported superstructures and characteristics of recipient patients at the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: All patients who received oral implants in 1990* and in 1995 were selected, and their files (95 and 105, respectively) were consulted. Data of interest were retrieved retrospectively, compared, and statistically analyzed using Chi-squared tests. RESULTS: A number of statistically significant differences was apparent between these 2 periods. By 1995 there was a threefold increase in both the number of patients and the number of implants placed per year. The patient group of < or = 40 years of age had significantly increased, from 7% to 23%. Also, in 1995 more maxillae were implanted than in 1990* (44% vs 26%). Whereas the majority of implanted patients was edentulous in 1990* (64%), the majority in 1995 was partially edentulous (60%). By 1995, the new technique of guided bone regeneration (GBR) using membranes was evidenced (no GBR in 1990* vs 33% of all patients in 1995 receiving some form of local GBR therapy). With respect to the type of superstructures, there was a strong increase in the number of single-tooth replacements (from 4% to 23%). In the edentulous group, the majority of superstructures in 1990 was fixed prostheses (64%), whereas in 1995 the majority was overdentures (71%). CONCLUSION: Major changes in oral implantology treatments were noticed between the 1990* and 1995 periods at ACTA. There is a trend toward implanting younger patients for partial implant-supported reconstructions using more regenerative procedures and with a more equal distribution in the maxilla and mandible.
