Effectiveness of immediate loading protocol over conventional loading protocol in mandibular posterior region - A comparative prospective clinical study

Background: The topic of type of loading for a dental implant is currently in debate in dentistry for the past 2 decades. The study was aimed to compare the effectiveness of immediate loading protocol over conventional loading protocol in respect to bone loss and clinical parameters in mandibular posterior region which is common edentulous region having sufficient amount of bone. Materials and Methods: A prospective clinical comparative study was on 20 participants assigned into Group A (n = 10; delayed loading) and Group B (n = 10; immediate loading). The participants were given Adin Touareg-S implants with titanium Grade 4 abutments conventionally in Group A and immediately in Group B. The outcomes evaluated were radiographic assessments marginal bone loss (MBL) and clinical softtissue assessments plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), PI, and calculus index (CI). The unpaired t-test was used to compare the intergroup means of these parameters keeping the level of significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The MBL comparisons between Groups A and B have not yielded any significant differences (P > 0.05 when compared from the 3rd, 6th, 9th, to 12th month) after implant placement. The mean value of PI, GI, and CI was not significantly different in the intergroup comparisons in the 3rd, 6th, 9th, and 12th month comparisons. Conclusion: There were no significant differences in the MBL, GI, PI, and CI between the immediate and conventionally loaded implants in mandibular posterior region. The immediate loading can be considered as an alternative to conventional loading in the mandibular posterior region.