Investigation of State of Implant Therapy in Elderly Patients： A Retrospective Study of 25 Patients Older than 70 Years
2009 Volume 22 Issue 3 Pages 330-337
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2009 Volume 22 Issue 3 Pages 330-337
The number of elderly people requiring implant therapy is expected to increase. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical performance of implant treatment in elderly patients. Clinical investigations of 25 patients, who were 70 years old or older when they underwent implant surgery, from January 2003 to February 2008 at the Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, Niigata Central Hospital, were performed. The following results were obtained:
1. There were 16 females and nine males. Six patients were aged 80 years or older, and the oldest patient was an 86-year-old female.
2. With regard to systemic medical conditions, 13 patients suffered from hypertension;seven patients, cerebral infarction;six patients, hyperlipidemia;four patients, diabetes;two patients, osteoporosis;and two patients, gastric cancer (post-operation state). Among these patients, five patients received anticoagulant therapy for the treatment of cerebral infarction and other conditions.
3. A total of 72 implants were placed in 25 patients. Nine implants were placed in the anterior maxilla, 18 in the posterior maxilla, 28 in the anterior mandible and 17 in the posterior mandible.
4. Two women underwent three operations, and the others underwent one operation. Intravenous sedation was administered to five patients (six times). With regard to complications observed during surgery, excessive elevation of blood pressure occurred in two patients and arrhythmia occurred in one patient. However, these complications did not lead to any further deterioration in the patientʼs condition.
5. A total of 36 prosthetic devices were delivered to the 25 patients. Among these, there were 14 fixed partial dentures, 11 implant-retained mandibular overdentures, and five single crowns. Furthermore, there were six implant-supported partial overdentures (five mandibular partial dentures and one maxillary partial denture).
6. Only one implant was lost before loading during the follow-up period (average, 27.2 months). The cumulative survival rate was 98.6%.
These results suggested that implant therapy is a predictable and safe therapeutic intervention for elderly people.
