Marginal Bone Loss in Internal Conical Connection Implants Placed at the Crestal and Subcrestal Levels before Prosthetic Loading: A Randomized Clinical Study

The vertical position concerning the bone in which the implants are placed has been related as one of the factors causing marginal bone loss. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bone loss that occurs before prosthetic loading around tapered internal connection (CIC) implants placed at the crestal (C) and subcrestal (S) levels.

Method: A randomized clinical trial (RCT) was carried out, with a sample size of 62 implants placed in 27 patients who underwent radiological controls on the day of placement, at one month, and at 4 months, and stability was measured by resonance frequency analysis (RFA) on three occasions.

Results: Bone loss in implants C and S from the time of placement (T0) and the month after (T1) was not significant (p = 0.54) (C = 0.19 mm and S = 0.15 mm). The difference between one month (T1) and four months (T2) (C = 0.17 mm and S = 0.22 mm) was not significant either (p = 0.26). The difference between the day of placement (T0) and the third and last measurement (T2) was almost null (p = 0.94) (C = 0.35 mm and S = 0.36). The overall success rate of the implants was 97.8%. The stability of the implants measured with RFA went from 70.60 (T0) to 73.16 (T1) and 74.52 (T2).

Conclusions: No significant differences were found in the bone loss for implants placed at the C and S levels. The millimeters of bone loss detected in both vertical positions did not have a significant impact on the stability of the implants.