PURPOSE: Immediate loading of dental implants has been proved to be feasible in partially edentulous jaws. The purpose of this retrospective investigation was to assess the feasibility of immediately loading dental implants in fully edentulous jaws. METHODS: A total of 24 patients aged between 53 and 89 years received a total of 154 implants in their edentulous maxillae or mandibles. Among the implants, 45 were set in fresh extracted sockets and 109 in consolidated alveolar bones. The implants were provisionally managed with chair-side made provisional resin bridges and exposed to immediate loading. Implants were followed up for 1–8 years, including radiographic imaging. Marginal bone levels were evaluated based on radiographic imaging. RESULTS: A total of 148 out of the 154 implants survived over the follow-up period of 1 to 8 years, giving a survival rate of 96%. The time or region of the implantation, the pre-implant augmentation, and the length and diameter of the implants had no statistically significant influence on the survival or the success rate. The marginal bone level remained stable with only minimal loss of 0.3 mm after 60 months of loading. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this study, immediate loading is feasible for dental implants in edentulous jaws.
Dental Implants* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Immediate Dental Implant Loading ; Jaw, Edentulous* ; Mandible ; Maxilla ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Individualized drug testing for tumors using a strategy analogous to antibiotic tests for infectious diseases would be highly desirable for personalized and individualized cancer care. METHODS: Primary cultures containing tumor and nontumor stromal cells were utilized in a novel strategy to test drug responses with respect to both efficacy and specificity. The strategy tested in this pilot study was implemented using four primary cultures derived from plexiform neurofibromas. Responses to two cytotoxic drugs (nilotinib and imatinib) were measured by following dose-dependent changes in the proportions of tumor and nontumor cells, determined by staining them with cell-type-specific antibodies. The viability of the cultured cells and the cytotoxic effect of the drugs were also measured using proliferation and cytotoxicity assays. RESULTS: The total number of cells decreased after the drug treatment, in accordance with the observed reduction in proliferation and increased cytotoxic effect upon incubation with the two anticancer drugs. The proportions of Schwann cells and fibroblasts changed dose-dependently, although the patterns of change varied between the tumor samples (from different sources) and between the two drugs. The highly variable in vitro drug responses probably reflect the large variations in the responses of tumors to therapies between individual patients in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary results suggest that the concept of assessing in vitro drug responses using primary cultures is feasible, but demands the extensive further development of an application for preclinical drug selection and drug discovery.
Antibodies ; Cells, Cultured ; Communicable Diseases ; Drug Discovery ; Fibroblasts ; Humans ; Precision Medicine ; Neurofibroma, Plexiform* ; Pilot Projects ; Schwann Cells ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Stromal Cells