Nearly 8% of Patients Lose At Least One Implant Within a Decade

Nearly 8% of patients lose at least one implant within 10 years, according to a new study from the University of Gothenburg, in Sweden.

The study looked at a portion of the 30,000 Swedes who receive dental implants each year. Sweden has one of the highest rates of dental implants per capita in the world.

The good news is that of the 4,716 randomly selected patients who were given an initial satisfaction survey, overall satisfaction was quite high, according to Jan Derks, a researcher at Sahlgrenska Academy.

However, when researchers examined 596 patients nine years following their implants, they found a relatively high rate of complications: 7.6% of patients had lost at least one implant, Derks said, and 14.5% had developed peri-implantitis pronounced bone loss. Patients who had periodontitis were at a higher risk of severe peri-implantitis. Patients with periodontitis and those who smoked had high risks of early implant loss, the study found.

Derks said the study shows it’s important for dentists to take a proactive approach to prevent complications from implants.

“Peri-implantitis appears to develop within a few years and then progresses quickly at an accelerating pace,” he said.

According to the American Academy of Implant Dentistry, some 3 million Americans have dental implants, a number increasing by about 500,000 per year. However, the academy also reports that 30 million Americans are missing all of their teeth on one or both jaw bones. They say the US dental implant and prosthetic market could reach $6.4 billion by 2018.