Background: Clinicians should be able to weigh the role of the main risk factors associated with early implant failure.
Purpose: The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the influence of different patient-related and implant-related risk factors on the occurrence of early implant failure.
Materials and methods: In July, 2014 the main electronic databases were searched for studies reporting on early failures. Relevant papers were selected by 2 independent authors using predefined selection criteria. Three authors independently scored the included studies for quality assessment. The estimated odds ratios of the main risk factors from the selected papers were subjected to meta-analysis.
Results: Nine studies were included. A total of 18,171 implants were meta-analyzed, of which 10,921 were analyzed for smoking, 15,260 for implant diameter, 16,075 for implant length, and 16,711 for implant location (maxilla vs mandible). The main significant risk factors for early implant failures were the smoking habit (odds ratio [OR], 1.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.3, 2.3), implants shorter than 10 mm (OR, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.2, 2.2) and implants placed in the maxilla (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.0, 1.6).
Conclusions: Clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of early failure in the presence of smokers, implants with reduced length, and implant-supported maxillary rehabilitation.