Surgical Guidancea and other Prognostic Factors in the Long-Term Success of Dental Implants

Dental implants are a widely used method for oral rehabilitation, consisting of prosthetic elements surgically placed into the alveolar bone to replace missing teeth.The biological process critical for implant success is osseointegration, which establishes a strong and stable bond between titanium and the surrounding bone.The objective of this study was to evaluate the long-term success rates of dental implants placed with surgical guidance compared to those placed without guidance, using three different commercial implant systems, in a dental clinic in Medelln during the period 2011-2021.A retrospective observational study was conducted involving 234 patients, in which sociodemographic characteristics, radiographic parameters, and established criteria for implant success were analyzed.Data were collected using Microsoft Excel, and statistical analysis was performed with the chi-square test in Jamovi.A total of 499 implants were evaluated in these 234 patients.The most common systemic conditions were cardiovascular disease and diabetes.Fifty-six percent of the implants were placed in the maxilla, with implant site 36 exhibiting the highest success rate.Surgical guides were employed in 89.8 % of cases, resulting in success rates of 93.3 % for guided implants and 98 % for unguided implants, with no statistically significant differences between the groups.Overall, 64.9 % of implants were successfully rehabilitated.Radiolucency was observed in 87.1% of failed implants, whereas only 3.2 % of failures occurred in smokers, suggesting that additional factors may influence implant outcomes.No significant differences were observed in the success rates between implants placed with and without surgical guides, although there was a trend favoring guided placement.The high rate of guide utilization indicates their potential positive impact on implant rehabilitation.These findings highlight the importance of comprehensive clinical and radiographic assessment in treatment planning to optimize implant outcomes and long-term success.