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ePaper created 2017-12-06, 12:03:50 | version 1.38.0
| interview Putting TiUnite to the test Having been involved with dental implantology from the very beginning, Prof. Tomas Albrektsson was a keen observer when Nobel Biocare launched its moderately rough TiUnite surface in 2000. Now, 17 years on, he is the co-author of a landmark meta- analysis analysing all prospective studies since published on the surface—106 papers in to- tal, featuring over 12,000 TiUnite implants.1 Here, he explains the significance of the findings. Prof. Albrektsson, the meta-analysis assessing TiUnite implants that you co-authored with Prof. Matthias Karl is perhaps the most extensive as- sessment of a single brand of dental implants. What is the relevance of looking at research on the TiUnite surface in such detail? It is always relevant to have proper clinical stud- ies conducted. But it is the sheer wealth of evidence on TiUnite implants that made this meta-analysis possible. Nobel Biocare is definitely leading the way here. There are some other systematic reviews on a single implant surface or brand, but not many. Fig. 1: Prof. Tomas Albrektsson, co-author of a meta-analysis assessing TiUnite implants. Fig. 1 50 implants 4 2017 And the more we know, of course, the better it is for dental professionals and for patients. Research of this nature highlights the stark con- trast between high-quality implants and the copy- cat versions that are likely not backed by documenta- tion. Even if they seemingly look like the implant that they are trying to imitate, this does not mean they will work in the same way. So this is really the most important thing—that a dental implant really works as planned and that there is high-quality evidence to prove it. What were the key findings of this TiUnite meta-analysis and why are they important? It was reported, not to any great surprise, that there is a very high implant survival rate for implants with the TiUnite surface. We know today that TiUnite has a very good clinical record with maintained bone levels in the great majority of cases. There are actu- ally five different ten-year studies on TiUnite that demonstrate well-maintained bone levels. What does your study tell us about rates of peri-implantitis with TiUnite implants? The publications assessing biological complica- tions revealed a low prevalence of peri-implantitis with TiUnite implants. This is also no big surprise. The figures we have seen widely reported in the lit- erature are exaggerated. They say that any bone loss after the first year is disease which is, to put it mildly, incorrect. We see maintained bone levels in this study and in other ten-year follow-up studies with TiUnite. If peri-implantitis is a disease, which is something widely discussed at this time, it may affect one per cent of implants at ten years. So, if by “disease” we mean bone loss that threatens the survival of the implant, it’s in the order of one per cent. Nobel Biocare’s implant systems are not the only ones showing good results with respect to peri- implantitis but if I were to choose an implant today I would look at the documented research, which is so much better with Nobel Biocare. The TiUnite im-