Five-year prospective study of prosthodontic and surgical single-tooth implant treatment in general practices and at a specialist clinic.

PURPOSE: The aim of this 5-year prospective study was to compare the results of single-tooth implant treatments planned and performed at four general practitioners' offices with the results from a specialist clinic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The group comprised 38 patients. Nineteen patients, with 19 implants/crowns, were planned and treated by four general practitioners, and the outcome was compared to a matched group of patients from a specialist clinic. RESULTS: Three patients did not complete the study. None of the implants failed; one crown failed. This was a very positive result, as the single failure, a crown at the specialist clinic, was caused by an extraordinary trauma and was not related to a common cause such as bite forces or fatigue. No significant differences were observed between the groups when the radiographic findings were compared. Some minor differences, for bleeding and the position of the mucosal level around implants and adjacent teeth, were observed between the two groups. CONCLUSION: The small discrepancies that were observed between treatment performed by the four general practitioners at their own offices and treatment performed at the specialist clinic were not regarded to be of any clinical importance. This indicates that complete single-tooth implant treatment may be performed for many patients by general practitioners who have received adequate training, allowing the possibility of referring complicated treatments to specialists and other treatments to general practitioners.