Purpose: Full-arch implant rehabilitation with four implants has become an accepted modality of treatment for fixed restorations in totally edentulous mandibles or maxillas; however, there is little scientific evidence on the outcome for the same treatment with three implants. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a protocol for three implants (all-on-three) supporting a delayed loaded fixed prosthesis in the completely edentulous maxilla, mandible, or both.
Materials and methods: This retrospective clinical study included 17 patients with 72 implants to restore 24 fully edentulous arches. The implants were loaded 4 months after surgery with fixed zirconia prostheses. A 5-year follow-up was performed.
Results: No implants were lost, giving a 100% success rate. The marginal bone loss was, on average, 0.53 mm (SD, 0.32 mm) for the internal connection implants and 0.84 mm (SD, 0.62 mm) for the external connection implants.
Conclusions: Within the limits of this small group clinical study, the high survival rate of the all-on-three protocol with delayed loading may be a viable concept.