Long- term survival of Tiolox implants in a dentist´s office

Objectives: The aim of the present study was first to determine the long-term treatment success using Tiolox implants that were placed in a practicing dentistxs office, and secondly to identify possible factors influencing the implant survival rate. Methods: The implants from 159 patients (65 males, 94 females; 80.7% of 197 eligible patients) were evaluated to determine cumulative 10-year-survival rates using the Kaplan-Meier estimator. The association between several factors (implant lengths, locations, prosthetic treatment, medical history, smoking habits, and oral health behavior) and implant failures were evaluated in a random model and in a dependent model by Cox regression analyses. Results: The total survival rate of 663 placed implants (maxilla: 367; mandible: 296) was 91.8 % after 120 months (mandible: 96 %, maxilla: 89 %). The 10-year implant survival rates were for current smokers 85.0 % (16 failures of 115 implants), for former smokers 90.4 % (14 failures of 247 implants), and for non-smokers 96.4 % (6 failures of 294 implants). In both regression models the duration of smoking was significant associated with an increased risk of implant failures (random model: P= 0.036; dependent model: P= 0.004). The Hazard ratios increased from 1.54 for patients who smoked during the last 10 years to almost seven for patients who smoked during the last 45 years. Conclusions: With a 10-year survival rate of 91.8 % Tiolox implants could be considered as very successful on conditions of a dentist`s office. Higher failure rates for former smokers and dose response effects between duration of smoking and implant failures showed permanent tissue damage due to smoking in addition to immediate local and systemic effects.