Implant Failure: Maintenance and Management

Implant dentistry is the second oldest discipline of dentistry with the history dating back to thousands of years and includes civilizations such as ancient Chinese, who 4000 years ago carved bamboo sticks in the shape of pegs and drove them into the bone for fixed tooth replacement.Despite high success rates with implants, failures like biologic, technical, and esthetic complications do occur in a percentage of cases. Some complications are relatively minor and easy to correct, but others result in loss of implants and failure of prosthesis. With an increase in the number of implants being placed, by the increased number of implant practitioners it is inevitable that the number of complications will likewise rise. A better understanding of the factors associated with implant failure provide data for the planning of future studies, facilitate clinical decision making, and may enhance the implant success.