Retrospective Clinical Study of a Freely Removable Implant-Supported Fixed Dental Prosthesis by a Microlocking System

Abstract

This retrospective clinical study was conducted to evaluate the clinical usefulness of a freely removable microlocking implant prosthesis (MLP) that was developed to overcome the problems with conventional implant prostheses. A total of 54 patients (male: 31, female: 23) and 100 implant prostheses were included. Patients were divided into three groups such as 6-12 months, 12-18 months, and 18-24 months according to the used period after implant prosthesis delivery, and the patients in each group were recalled for examinations of survival rate, marginal bone resorption, peri-implant soft tissue indices, and complications. The prosthetic complications were analysed by combining the recorded chart data during the periodic checks including the last call for this study. During a 2-year observation period, all the implants showed a 100% survival rate without clinical mobility and functional problems. There was no significant difference in marginal bone resorption, plaque index, and bleeding index over the observation period after implant prosthesis delivery. Probing depth of the 18-24 months group ( $1.5\pm 0.19\text{mm}$ ) was significantly lower than that of the 6-12 months group ( $p<0.05$ ). The main complication was abutment loosening (4%), followed by implant prosthesis fracture (2%) and food impaction (2%) which were recorded. Within the limits of the present study, the implant prostheses with MLP are considered to be an applicable and predictable treatment method.