Evaluation of Factors Contributing to Dental Implant Fracture: Impact of Neck Design in 1026 Implants

This study aimed to evaluate the factors contributing to dental implant fracture while focusing on different bone-level (BL) or soft tissue-level (STL) neck designs. This study analyzed 311 patients with 1026 implants treated between April 2021 and March 2023. The proportions of dental implant sites were 13.6% (140/1026), 31.8% (326/1026), and 54.6% (560/1026) in the anterior teeth, premolars, and molars, respectively. The study investigated the presence or absence of implant fracture due to differences in BL or STL neck designs. The 2 groups were compared using the Pearson chi-square test. These tests used the morphology of the dental implant neck design as the explanatory variable, whereas the presence or absence of implant fractures served as the criterion variable. Statistical significance was set at P < .05. The rate of implant fracture was 3/683 (0.4%) and 0/343 (0%) in the BL and STL groups, respectively (P = .56). By site, the rate was 0/140 (0.0%) in the anterior teeth, 0/326 (0.0%) in the premolars, and 3/560 (0.5%) in the molars (P = .55). No sex difference was observed in the presence of implant fractures (P = .18). However, a significant age difference was observed between the groups with and without fractures (P = .03). All implant fractures occurred in the BL group in this study. Our findings suggest that differences in dental implant neck design are an important factor associated with dental implant fracture.