Bone loss of immediately loaded implants with implant-supported and tooth-implant-supported fixed maxillary prostheses.

This 2-year study investigates the survival and crestal bone loss of immediately loaded implants used to support complete-arch implant-supported prostheses (ISPs) or tooth-implant-supported fixed prostheses (TISPs) in the maxilla. Six patients with 52 implants for the support of ISPs and seven patients with 22 implants and 24 abutment teeth for the support of TISPs were included. All implants were immediately loaded. The survival of the supporting implants and teeth was evaluated for up to 6 months after immediate loading. Bone loss around the implants was measured using panoramic radiographs. After the first year, TISPs showed less bone resorption (-0.04 mm from the reference level) than did ISPs (-0.1 mm), while no difference was observed after the second year. Considering the number of pontics used for the prostheses, no significant difference was observed between ISPs and TISPs after both 1 and 2 years. Immediate loading could be a protocol of choice for both maxillary ISPs and TISPs.