Early and late implant loss in a university-based periodontal setting: A retrospective analysis on 1821 patients and 2639 implants over a period of 18 years.

The aim of this study was to retrospectively analyze the implant failure rate, not due to peri-implantitis, in periodontally compromised patients rehabilitated with at least one dental implant placed in a specialist university setting over the last 18 years. Records of patients receiving dental implants at the Department of Periodontology, University of Bern, Switzerland, between 2005 and 2022 were analyzed. Data on 1821 patients with 2639 implants were retrieved. Fifty-nine patients experienced implant loss (rate at patient level: 3.2%) out of which 2.1% were early and 1.1% late implant losses, respectively. The majority of the 59 patients were males (68%) and 27.1% were smokers. Eight mm implants were lost with the highest rate (42.4%) followed by 10 mm implants (31.8%). The rate of lost maxillary implants was more than twice as high compared with that of mandibular implants (69.7 vs. 30.3%). Within the study limitations, the implant failure rate in this cohort of patients enrolled in regular supportive periodontal and peri-implant care, was low.

Cost savings in the Swiss healthcare system resulting from professional periodontal care.

More than 740 million people worldwide are affected by periodontal disease and are at higher risk of secondary damage such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, which place a considerable financial burden on healthcare systems. The aim of this study was to use a computer simulation to estimate the direct and indirect costs of prevention and treatment of gingivitis, periodontitis and related secondary damage in the Swiss population, paid both out of pocket (OOP) and from social welfare (SW). For three different scenarios, iterations with 200,000 simulated individuals over their assumed life span of 35 to 100 years corresponded to a period of four months in which an individual could move from one periodontal condition to the next, each associated with presumed direct and indirect treatment costs. Appropriate diagnosis and adherence to professional periodontal care had a strong benefit saving up to CHF 5.94 billion OOP and CHF 1.03 billion SW costs for the current Swiss population. Considering direct and indirect health care costs, the total expected costs for a 35-year-old individual until death were CHF 17'310 with minimal care and CHF 15'606 with optimal care, resulting in savings of CHF 1'704. In conclusion, early detection and appropriate treatment of periodontitis can help to reduce both overall costs of treating periodontitis and associated secondary damage, especially in the second half of life. These cost savings may further pay off on an individual level through regular supportive periodontal care, both for treatments paid out-of-pocket and those covered by social welfare.