Purpose: To guide treatment planning by analyzing the rates of dental implant failure to determine associated risk factors. Materials and Methods: All consecutively treated patients from January 1982 until January 2003 were included in a retrospective cohort study, as defined in the hierarchy of evidence for dental implant literature. Data regarding gender, age, implant location, bone quality, bone volume, and medical history were recorded. Correlations between these data and implant survival were calculated to establish relative risk (RR) ratios.
Results: Increasing age was strongly associated with the risk of implant failure. Compared to patients younger than 40 years, patients in the 60-to-79 age group had a significantly higher risk of implant failure (RR = 2.24; P < .05). Gender, hypertension, coronary artery disease, pulmonary disease, steroid therapy, chemotherapy, and not being on hormone replacement therapy for postmenopausal women were not associated with a significant increase in implant failure. Smoking (RR = 1.56), diabetes (RR = 2.75), head and neck radiation (RR = 2.73), and postmenopausal estrogen therapy (RR = 2.55) were correlated with a significantly increased failure rate. Overall, implant failure was 8.16% in the maxilla and 4.93% in the mandible (P < .001).
Discussion: Patients who were over age 60, smoked, had a history of diabetes or head and neck radiation, or were postmenopausal and on hormone replacement therapy experienced significantly increased implant failure compared with healthy patients.
Conclusion: Overall, dental implant failure is low and there are no absolute contraindications to implant placement. Conditions that were found to be correlated with an increased risk of failure should be considered during treatment planning and factored into the informed consent process. (More than 50 references.)
Authors: Moy, Peter K.; Medina, Diana; Shetty, Vivek; Aghaloo, Tara L.
Source: https://openurl.ebsco.com/
Implantology 03 February 2026
Bone Structure, Metabolism, and Physiology Its Impact on Dental Implantology
When placing implants in the mandible or maxilla, it is important for clinicians to understand the process of bone remodeling, the different types of bone, and how these factors can affect the...
Endodontics 02 February 2026
Implantology 20 January 2026
Smoking as a risk factor for dental implants and implant-related surgery
Cigarette smoking is known to adversely affect wound healing, and thus may jeopardize the success of dental implantation and implant-related oral surgery.
Products 27 November 2025
Neocis Unveils Next-Generation AI-Powered Robotic System for Dental Implants
Neocis, the pioneer behind the first and only U.S. FDA-cleared robotic system for dental implant surgery, today announced the launch and FDA approval of its next-generation robotic platform: Yomi...
Smile Analysis is an Edra professional dentistry reference focused on clinical practice, education and treatment planning.
Following the total loss of its manufacturing facility in the 2025 Los Angeles fires, Wizard Wedges® are back in production and available through authorized dental dealers—the same
News 29 May 2026
News 29 May 2026
The American Association of Orthodontists (AAO) announced the successful conclusion of its 2026 Annual Session, held in Orlando, Florida, from May 1–3 and attended by more than 12
Editorials 29 May 2026
From California to Canada: CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine at ADEA, GRC and IADR 2026
The CU Anschutz School of Dental Medicine will showcase a wide breadth of educational innovation, faculty development, clinical training and research at three major gatherings this