This new meta-analysis represents the largest such review of a single brand of dental implants published to date, evaluating data on 12,803 TiUnite surface implants and 4,694 patients. The results confirm that implants with the TiUnite surface have a remarkably low early failure rate and support long-term clinical survival, with early implant and patient level survival rate estimates both exceeding 99 per cent at one year, and a late implant survival rate estimate of 95.1 per cent after ten years.

Of the 106 studies, 47 evaluated biological complications. Of these 47 papers, 19 reported cases of peri-implantitis, and only in 5.2 per cent of patients. Karl and Albrektsson postulated that, assuming that any findings of peri-implantitis in the other included studies would have been reported by the authors, the actual rate of peri-implantitis among the 4,694 patients in all 106 studies would have been as low as 1.36 per cent. This is in line with an earlier report by Albrektsson of a rate of 1–2 per cent of peri-implantitis affecting well-documented implants at ten years.

Bone level change estimates of -0.4 mm at the one-year follow-up and -0.9 mm at the five-year follow-up (implant level) show that TiUnite is a surface that promotes a healthy bone response in the first year and stable bone levels long term.

“Nobel Biocare stands for high-quality products based on high-quality science. This meta-analysis unequivocally confirms what extensive internal testing and external validation have documented for over 15 years: that the TiUnite surface supports peri-implant health, bone maintenance and overall implant success long term,” said Nobel Biocare President Hans Geiselhöringer.

He added, “Such results further demonstrate the success of Nobel Biocare’s patient-centric approach to the development of products and solutions. This study serves as the strongest evidence to date that dental professionals and their patients can rely on Nobel Biocare implants with the TiUnite surface for excellent treatment outcomes.”

The study, titled “Clinical performance of dental implants with a moderately rough (TiUnite) surface: A meta-analysis of prospective clinical studies”, was published in the July/August issue of the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Implants.

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