How firm are you guys on your wait times for osseointegration? I’ve been following the 3 months for lower implants, 4 months for upper implants protocol. I had a patient referred to me from the other clinic for restoration of #13 the second week of December, which would put her at exactly 3 months post-implant placement. Would you have any reservation for impressions and then subsequent loading/restoration at that time? I plan to take an updated PA and check the torque with my torque wrench, but should I just wait the extra month before I do any of that?

I guess my logic is, if it hasn’t osseointegrated at the three-month mark, waiting one more month probably wouldn’t make a difference, right?

Answer:

I’m firm only because that’s the only way to keep things straight in a systematic way.

On a patient to patient basis, no you don’t have to be strict. I’m totally fine with restoring some people early. It depends on the bone quality and history of the site.

For example, posterior maxilla with a recent ext and bone graft placed, I don’t want to cut any corners on healing time before implant palcement. And neither on osseointegration time.

But other sites heal faster.

I would say that its probably fine to restore. BUT if you do feel any movement or rotation, you may want to leave it alone for another moth. DONT REVERSE TORQUE 🙂

Best of luck! Most likely, you’ll be fine!