A CORRELATION BETWEEN IMPLANT STABILITY AND BONE HEIGHT MEASUREMENTS AFTER A ONE YEAR FOLLOW UP

Background: Implant stability and bone height measurements have been identified as an important criteria for maintaining and achieving successful Osseo integration. Resonance frequency analysis (RFA) under the brand name of Osstell has been used to monitor implant stability during the various follow ups of clinical research owing to its high reproducibility. Cone beam CT (CBCT), recently has proved to be a valuable tool to detect bone height measurements in 3dimensions.
Materials and Methods: Three implants were installed in the mandibular inter-formainal region of ten completely edentulous patients. After three month from implant installation patients were divided randomly into two groups; ball attachment and locator attachment. Implant stability was recorded for all patients initially during implant installation and at the day of delivery of the attachment, then after 12 month follow up. CBCT was made for all patients at the day of loading and then after 12 month follow up period. A correlation between the ISQ values of all implants in both groups of patients and bone height measurements was made after a 12 month follow up.
Results: After a one year follow up, there was a significant poor positive correlation r =0.114, p (2-tailed) ≤0.001, between implant stability recorded using the Osstell (RFA), and bone height measurements recorded from CBCT.
Discussion: Osstell has proven to be used as a reliable tool for measuring the stiffness of bone –implant contact. An increase in the Osstell readings (ISQ values), would indicate an increase in implant stability during the different follow up intervals. Additionally, an increase in bone height measurements from CBCT, will indicate an increase in the amount of bone to implant contact. When correlating the implant stability values and the bone height measurements, a poor positive correlation was detected, indicating that over a one year follow up, an increase in implant stability (ISQ value) will be accompanied by an increase of bone to implant contact.