Immediate loading of dental implants in the edentulous mandible: a preliminary case report from an international prospective multicenter study.
The ability to predictably achieve long-term osseointegration in patients with compromised anatomical resources has been demonstrated numerous times in modern oral implantology. Recently, clinical attention has focused on new methods of reducing treatment time. One-stage surgical procedures and immediate loading of implants at the time of placement are two techniques that have demonstrated promising clinical results. A prospective clinical study of immediately splinting and loading a new, one-stage implant is currently in progress in the United States and France. An overview of the implant design and presentation of one case study from the University of Pittsburgh demonstrates how this promising technique is performed.