RESUMO
Ramus frame dental implants were retrospectively studied in 360 adults with severely atrophic edentulous mandibles. Patient records up to 12 years post-treatment were independently reviewed after a single clinician surgically placed titanium long-arm ("Tatum") ramus frame implants and immediately loaded them with a mandibular overdenture. A total of 11 ramus frames were removed at 19 to 109 months post-treatment, mostly due to supramucosal bar fracture (N = 6) or mobility (N = 3). Kaplan-Meier product-limit analysis revealed the post-treatment survival probability for functional ramus frame implants to be 99.3% at 2 years (266 patients), 98.9% at 3 years (223 patients), 97.9% at 4 years (198 patients), 96.9% at 5 years (160 patients), 96.9% at 6 years (123 patients), 95.0% at 7 years (86 patients), 95.0% at 8 years (67 patients), 93.3% at 9 years (43 patients), and 91.1% at 10 years (25 patients). No statistically significant differences in functional ramus frame implant survival were found relative to patient gender, smoking, presence of natural maxillary teeth, or compliance with semi-annual maintenance care. Fracture of endosseous anterior feet/posterior arms was the most frequent implant-related complication on 29 implants, which were left in place, repaired, or replaced in situ without implant removal. At 5 years, the ramus frame implant functional survival probability without any implant-related biological or mechanical complication was 88.9%. Ramus frame dental implants, immediately loaded with a fully implant-borne mandibular overdenture, exhibited a high degree of long-term functional survival and safety in severely atrophic edentulous human mandibles.