Implant Success Rate
We are all familiar with how advertisements tweak statistics to make the products they are selling look like they are flawless. Make no mistake about it, these figures are often misinterpreted or misquoted.
What is the success rate for dental implants? It’s not 98%. It’s not 95%. It’s not even 80%. You should only trust an honest clinician who tells you that it depends on the case. What does that mean? Let’s take a look at an unsavoury example. There are cancer patients and there are cancer patients. Why is it that some of them recover and lead normal lives while others die a very painful death after aggressive surgery and chemotherapy?
Even a knowledgeable layman may have some answers to that. Success in cancer therapy depends on many factors. It depends on the type of cancer. It depends on the stage at which the cancer was discovered. Some people are treated early. Some are treated late. Some respond well to chemo, some don’t. Some are fit for surgery. Some aren’t. Some people have good habits and discipline which contribute to their recovery. Some people continue to abuse their bodies.
Like any form of medical treatment, the patient’s response to the treatment is dependent on pre-existing conditions. One patient’s risk factor may be very different from another patient’s risk factor. In a patient who has excellent bone, tooth recently extracted, no gum disease, no medical history etc., implant success rate can be as high as the 98% boasted by some implant manufacturers. On the other hand, a patient who has lost his teeth for many years, suffers from gum disease, smokes a pack a day, has poor oral hygiene and medical problems like diabetes, implant success rate for him will be very much lower than 98%. It only stands to reason that each potential implant patient must be assessed as an individual. The majority of implant failures are due to unsuitable candidates and the willingness of the practitioner to take risks. A very successful implant practitioner once said (in private) that the only unsuitable implant candidate is one without money. He’s joking, of course, but not everybody is.
For the patient, a successful implant is one that remains osseointegrated (integrated with the bone) and the crown that sits on top must also last. A lot of published data only report on successful surgery and not final restoration. According to one insider, some implant manufacturers have inflated their success figures by sponsoring the placement of sleeping implants not meant to be restored.
As demand for implants rise, implant manufacturers conduct courses to equip dentists with the skills, knowledge and armamentarium needed to place dental implants. In fact, the majority of affordable implant courses out there are conducted by implant manufacturers. Any commercially driven course will present its implants as the best and easiest to use. Most of them will try to make implant surgery look like simple carpentry. They have lots of data to show why they are the best, making dentists feel secure that the superior aspects of the implant system they are using will make up for their lack of experience.
The main function of these short and affordable courses (for which dentists will get valuable continuing education points) is to promote the merits of their own implant system. The ultimate aim is to secure dentists who can’t afford to invest in more than one implant system. By way of “service and support” and mentors on their payroll, they encourage the placement of as many implants as possible, for as many patients as possible, as often as possible. Given that not every patient is ideally suited for dental implants, a significant number of unhappy patients will arise with this approach.
Fortunately, there are many implant practitioners who have already learned from unpleasant experiences in the past. Unfortunately, there are many new and budding practitioners who are just learning the ropes while being constantly bombarded by propaganda. Neither dentists nor patients should be duped by the crafty implant manufacturers.
