Background: The aim of the present prospective longitudinal study of periodontally diseased and periodontally healthy patients was a clinical, microbiological, and radiographic comparison of teeth and implants and an assessment of the implant success rate.

Methods: Thirty-nine partially edentulous patients provided with a total of 150 implants were enrolled in the study. Oral rehabilitation was undertaken in 15 patients treated for generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAgP), 12 patients treated for generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP), and 12 periodontally healthy patients. The examinations of the teeth and implants were carried out within the framework of a 3-month recall schedule over a 3-year period. At each session, clinical parameters for probing depth (PD), gingival recession (GR), attachment level (AL), gingival index (GI), and plaque index (PI) were recorded, and the composition of the subgingival microflora determined by dark-field microscopy. In the periodontally diseased patients, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (A.a.), Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g.), and Prevotella intermedia (P.i.) were detected at teeth and implants by DNA analysis in the first and third years after insertion of the superstructure. Intraoral radiographs of the teeth and implants were taken at baseline, immediately after insertion of the superstructure, and then 1 and 3 years later.

Results: The GI and PI at implants and teeth remained below 0.25 and 0.6, respectively, in all patient groups throughout the study period. At the implants and teeth, a slight increase in PD and a continuous attachment loss was recorded in the GAgP patients. The attachment loss was greater at the implants than at the teeth in all groups. The morphological distribution of the microorganisms revealed virtually healthy conditions in all groups. A.a. was detected in two GAgP patients, whereas P.g. and P.i. were found more frequently both in the GAgP and in the GCP patients. Radiographically detected bone loss was higher after 3 years at implants and teeth in the GAgP patients than in the other two groups. The implant success rates recorded were 100% in the periodontally healthy and GCP patients, and 95.7% in the maxilla and 100% in the mandible of the GAgP patients.

Conclusions: The results show that oral rehabilitation can be performed with implants in patients treated for generalized aggressive and chronic periodontitis. However, slight attachment loss and bone loss were registered at the implants and teeth in the patients with aggressive periodontitis. J Periodontol 2005;76:534-543.