Patients on Oral Bisphosphonate Therapy Can Safely Receive One-Step Implant Surgery
Patients on Oral Bisphosphonate Therapy Can Safely Receive One Step Implant Surgery The immediate loading protocol is a one step dental implant surgery designed to increase patient acceptance and reduce the risk of complications compared to the traditional two step
Patients on Oral Bisphosphonate Therapy Can Safely Receive One-Step Implant Surgery
Traditional implant surgery is performed in a two-step process. In order to increase patient acceptance and reduce complications, the one-step immediate loading protocol has been introduced. Before immediate loading can become the standard of care, however, it must be tested on a variety of patient populations. Because patients with osteoporosis who take oral bisphosphonates—a medication that inhibits bone resorption—are at greater risk of osteonecrosis of the jaw, Italian researchers investigated the immediate loading protocol’s success rate in this high-risk group. Results of the study were published in the February issue of the Journal of Implantology.
Nine patients with osteoporosis who had been taking oral bisphosphonates for less than 3 years underwent immediate occlusal loading procedures, receiving a total of 54 implants. The success rate for all nine surgeries was 100%, demonstrating the efficacy of the immediate loading protocol among a high-risk group. At the 2-year follow-up visit, the patients still exhibited no adverse effects. Additional testing of this promising one-step surgery is ongoing.
