Are Lower Insertional Torque Values Associated with Increased Early Dental Implant Failures

Abstract Statement of the problem The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to determine whether low insertional torque vales Materials and methods A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate dental implants placed in 2015 at the VA North Texas Health Care System in Dallas. The following inclusion criteria were defined: 1) patients who were not lost to follow-up within the first 6 months of implant placement; 2) cases with sufficient medical records, including pre-surgical and post-surgical evaluation. Patients were excluded as study subjects if: 1) they had inadequate medical records; 2) they were a current tobacco smoker or were undergoing treatment for systemic conditions such as bisphosphonate use, head and neck radiation, and chemotherapy. The primary predictor variable was dental implant insertional torque, measured at the time of implant placement as: 60-Ncm. The primary outcome variable was early implant failure, defined chronologically as implant failure necessitating explantation within 6 months of placement.1 Secondary predictor variables were age ≥ 65 years and sex, defined as male or female. Descriptive, bivariate, and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed with P Results and outcomes Thirty-three subjects and 69 implants met the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The average age of the cohort was 65 years. Sixty-two implants were placed in males, and 7 were placed in females. There was a total of 5 early failures (7%). Four occurred in males, and 1 occurred in a female. Four occurred in subjects ≥ 65, and 1 occurred in a subject Discussion and conclusion The results of this retrospective cohort study suggest that decreased insertional torque values of dental implants below 30-Ncm increase early failure rates within 6 months of dental implant placement. A systematic review by Oliveira et al found that there was not strong enough evidence to conclude that insertional torque