Clinical Implications

Implants used for prosthodontic restoration in oral cancer patients following surgical resection and radiation therapy have a lower long-term survival rate than implants in healthy individuals due to oral cancer patients ’ increased mortality rate. Rigid fixation of the implant-supported removable and fixed prostheses appears to be favorable, as it minimizes technical and biological complications. Statement of problem. Dental implants have been increasingly used for prosthodontic rehabilitation of patients fol-lowing oral tumor resection and postsurgical radiotherapy. However, only a few long-term studies have examined the implant survival rate and other factors related to prosthodontic treatment in oral tumor resection patients. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the long-term survival of dental implants and implant-retained prostheses in oral cancer resection patients. Material and methods. Ninety-three patients (63 men, 30 women) with a mean age of 59 years (range of 26-89 years) received 435 implants after the resection of a head and neck tumor. Twenty-nine patients received postsurgical ra-diotherapy prior to implant placement. The factors related to implant survival or failure were monitored over a mean observation period of 10.3 years (range of 5 to 161 months). Prosthodontic rehabilitation was evaluated with respec