At the World Congress in Washington, DC in June, we had breaking news; we are challenging the current standard for implant treatment success regarding the maintenance of marginal bone levels. The current industry standard, based on research on other implant systems, accepts a mean bone level loss of about 1.5 mm after five years.
Why do you think it is necessary to set a new standard?
The current industry standard was set in 1986 and much has happened since then. In 1986 a number of success criteria were set to measure and follow up the treatment in order to evaluate the safety, efficacy and predictability of dental implants. Originally the focus was on restoring function, but today the focus is just as much on esthetics and to facilitate treatment for both the clinician and the patient. Over the years both the methods and the products in implant treatment have developed and improved. We think that the standard norm should be updated and reflect what is possible to achieve today. There are no reasons why the clinician or the patient should settle with less than the best.
Astra Tech is currently number four in the world on the dental implant market; why are you focusing on setting a new standard, isn’t that normally a task for the market leader?
We have always had a strong focus on research, science and documentation. Following the development regarding the maintenance of the marginal bone level on our own system for many years, we always knew that the marginal bone level on Astra Tech Implant System™ has been extraordinary well maintained. We have now summarized it in an organized and structured manner, compared it to the standard norm, and we are ready to present our excellent data to the dental implant community. It turns out that the Astra Tech Implant System™ shows a marginal bone level reduction of only 0.3 millimeter or less over a five-year period. That is a performance indicator at least four times superior to the industry norm, which is a bone loss of 1.5 millimeter. This means that dental professionals should challenge old truths and demand more of their implant system, both in terms of documentation and results, all for the benefit of the patient.
We are talking millimeters, how important is it really?
For the individual patient, a bone loss of 1 millimeter can be the difference between success and failure. If it is a compromised case with limited amount of bone, each millimeter is worth a lot for the final outcome. In the molar region, that millimeter can be the difference between being able to replace function or not. In the esthetic zone, 0.5 millimeter can be the difference between a healthy natural soft tissue and a black triangle between the teeth.
Professor Tomas Albrektsson, Biomaterial Research at The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, was one of the authors of the scientific article from 1986 where the current standard norm was set; how did he react to your challenge?
He agreed that it might be time to reconsider the old standard from 1986, and that a new standard should perhaps only allow 50% or less of the bone resorption currently accepted as a successful result.
Are you going to promote a new consensus meeting to set a new standard?
I don’t think that an implant company should do that. We can present our own documentation, but a consensus meeting and a new standard for implant treatment should be developed and set by the dental academic society.
Marginal bone level change reported in prospective studies on Astra Tech implants.
How did you come to the conclusion that Astra Tech Implant System™ only has a bone level reduction of 0.3 millimeter or less over five years?
The graph above illustrates our results and the standard norm. We summarized all our prospective radiographic studies on our implants with Conical Seal Design™, Connective Contour™ and MicroThread™ with complete study cohorts and where a standard implant surgery had been performed. This resulted in 12 scientific articles, which the results are based on.
How do you think that the competitors will react to this?
Hopefully, they will examine and present their own documentation on marginal bone levels compared to the standard norm and to us, the Astra Tech standard. If they don’t have any documentation, it is about time that they get started.
Finally, is there anything you would like to add?
I would like to encourage everyone to be critical when reading scientific articles; the conclusion might sound really good but what about the substance behind it?