RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Immediate loading of dental implants has been introduced as a method of reducing implant treatment time without compromising its prognosis. In this research, the effects of loading time on the amount of bone-to-implant contact and bone formation around dental implants were evaluated histologically. METHODS: Three months prior to implantation, the lower premolar teeth of 15 dogs were extracted. Three or four dental implants were placed in the healed extraction sites for each dog (N = 48). Dividing the dogs into three groups, the implants were either loaded 48 hours or 1 week later with metallic or prefabricated acrylic crowns or were left unloaded until the time of sacrifice. Three months after implant insertion, the animals were sacrificed and samples were investigated to define the amount of bone-to-implant contact, lamellar and woven bone percentage, and local inflammation of the newly formed bone. RESULTS: No significant difference in the observed criteria was reported among the three groups (P >0.05); however, the unloaded group had the highest degree of bone-to-implant contact and the group loaded 48 hours after the primary implant insertion had the least. The prosthesis type had no significant effect on the implant success rate (P >0.05). The lamellar and woven bone percentage of newly formed bone also did not differ in the three groups (P >0.05). One implant from each group failed in this study. CONCLUSION: Loading time does not seem to significantly affect the degree of osseointegration and bone-to-implant contact and the composition of newly formed bone around dental implants.
