Background: Recently, several authors have focused on the possibility of an immediate functional loading of dental implants to minimize the delay between surgical and prosthetic phases.
Purpose: The aim of this study was a reevaluation of the XiVE dental implant (Dentsply-Friadent, Mannheim, Germany) with: (1) a longer follow-up period; (2) a higher number of fixture; and (3) a proper statistical method.
Materials and methods: In July 2001 and December 2002, 371 patients (180 males and 191 females; ages ranging from 17 to 83; mean age, 53 years) were consecutively enrolled in this study. In 371 patients, a total of 1,005 XiVE dental implants were distributed as follows: 484 immediately loaded implants (test group) were inserted in 130 patients, whereas 521 unloaded implants were inserted in 241 patients (control group).
Results: The implant survival was 98.7 and 99.4% in immediate loading and control group, respectively. Univariate analysis showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups.
Conclusion: In a previous report, we showed that immediate loading offered a predictable and reliable procedure also for XiVE implants, at least in the short period. In this study, we confirmed the results of the previous study and added information regarding the survival rate and marginal bone level stability with a 2-year follow up.