Patient population

In the present retrospective study, 47 dental implants (C-Tech Esthetic Line implants) from 20 patients (11 female, 9 male) with a mean age of 58.5 years (45–75 years) were analyzed clinically and radiologically. Implant placement and follow-up investigation was performed at the HL Dentclinic in Baden-Baden, Germany. The study was approved by the ethics commission of the medical department of Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, Germany (378/16). All participating patients gave written informed consent to participate in the study and for publication of the obtained data. All patients from the private practice from one of the authors (H.L) that received C-Tech Esthetic Line implants in combination with a GBR augmentation procedure over a period of 1 year that have been available for follow-up investigation have been included in the present study. Furthermore, implants had to be loaded for at least 3 years. Patients with incomplete data collection or refusing to participate in the study have been excluded. Implants were placed in combination with simultaneous augmentation procedures on the implant shoulder (lateral augmentation, GBR) with synthetic (alloplastic) biomaterials. Hydroxyapatite (HA)-based bone substitute materials and bone substitute materials consisting of HA and beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) were used. Maxresorb^® (Botiss Biomaterials, Berlin, Germany) is a synthetic derived bone substitute material made of biphasic calcium phosphate. It is composed of 60% HA and 40% β-TCP and has been applied for augmentation in 26 implants, while in 21 implants, Osbone^® (Curasan, Frankfurt, Germany), a synthetic bone substitute material made of pure HA, has been used.

Implants were placed in native alveolar bone and augmentation around the implant shoulder due to horizontal and vertical bone defects that led to dehiscences of the implant surface. Twenty-three implants were placed in the upper jaw and 24 implants in the lower jaw. All implant placements were delayed at least 3 months after the extraction of teeth not worth preserving, and loading was done after a mean osseointegration period of 4 months. Prosthetic rehabilitation consisted of fixed prosthetics in 43 implants and removable prosthetics in 4 implants. The clinical and radiological follow-up investigation was performed after a loading period of at least 3 years (36–48 months after incorporation of prosthetics, mean 42.6 months). Implant survival and peri-implant hard- and soft-tissue health were analyzed to determine the manifestations of peri-mucositis by analysis of bleeding on probing (BOP) or peri-implantitis by analysis of marginal bone loss. Table 1 gives an overview of retrospectively investigated implants with patient information, implant localization, and implant data.