Evaluation of Stability Changes in Tapered and Parallel Wall Implants: A Human Clinical Trial

OBJECTIVE To determine the pattern of stability changes as a reflection of early healing around single-stage roughened-surface implants in humans utilizing resonance frequency analysis (RFA). MATERIALS AND METHODS Hundred twenty-five patients who demanded dental implants were treated with two different implant (Nobel Biocare Replace™ and Strumman™ ITI) systems. Bone type was classified into four groups. RFA was used for direct measurement of implant stability on the day of implant placement and consecutively at 14, 30 and 60 days after placement. The data were analyzed with Student t test and regression analysis. RESULTS Three-hundred four roughened surface implants placed in the maxilla and mandible were evaluated. In Replace™ implants the lowest mean stability measurement was at 30 days for all bone types and the stability did not change significantly in any of the bone types (p>0.05). ITI™ implants demonstrated the lowest stability at 60 days for type 1 and 30 days and baseline for type 2, 3 and 4 bones. In addition, there was significant differences in implant stability between bone types 1 and 4 (P<0.001), 2 and 3 (p<0.05), and bone types 3 and 4 (P=0.07) at all aforementioned times in ITI™ implants. In Replace™ implants, regarding the implant diameter, contrary to ITI implants, no significant stability changes were detected (p>0.05). No significant difference was observed regarding gender, age and lengths in both systems. CONCLUSION In comparison to ITI™ implants, Replace™ implants revealed no significant difference in the pattern of stability changes among different bone types.