A study compared the outcome up to 12 years of “sleeping” versus loaded implants in the mandible, which involved 14 patients with overdentures, for a total of 28 loaded implants and 14 sleeping implants. During follow-up visits, intraoral radiographs were taken to observe changes in bone level. The study found that, at each observation visit, compared with abutment connection, the submerged nonloaded (sleeping) implants had less bone loss than their neighboring functional (loaded) implants. The difference was primarily due to more significant bone loss during the first year of loading; following the first year, changes in bone level remained similar for both types of implants. The study suggests that the first months of loading of implants have a significant impact on the bone level, resulting in the initial difference between sleeping versus loaded implants. This is followed by a more physiological bone level change. The study notes that this initial difference in bone level might be explained by the adaptation of the surrounding bone to the loaded implant.
(Source: Clinical Oral Implants Research, first published online November 25, 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0501.2011.02263.x)
