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There is a demographic trend towards populations with increasing proportions of elderly patients. The dental profession will soon be faced with a generation of very elderly patients who expect to maintain high standards of oral function, even in old age. Many elderly people experience considerable difficulty obtaining adequate oral function with removable dentures. Edentulous elderly patients have experienced greater difficulty adapting to full dentures than younger patients, and those who eventually adapt take a considerably longer amount of time. Recent articles have shown the significance of adequate oral function for proper digestion and nutrition.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible influence of patient age on successful rehabilitation with the Brånemark implant system by comparing the outcome of treatment in a group of elderly patients with a group of younger patients, 65 to 85 years and 36 younger patients, 18 to 54 years, treated for edentulousness with tissue integrated implants were recalled regularly after treatment. The observation periods ranged from 1 to 6 years. The elderly group received a total of 284 Brånemark titanium implants and the younger group 183 implants.

A very high success rate was noted in both age groups with respect to continuing function and stability of the original implants. The criteria for evaluation of dental implant success proposed by Albrektsson et al 1986 is so stringent that a high success rate based on this criteria would clearly indicate that the therapy is appropriate. The elderly group showed a 90% success rate in the maxilla and 99.5% in the mandible; the younger group experienced 88% success rate in the maxilla and 98% in the mandible. It was also of interest to note that where osseointegration of implants failed, 76% of the failures occurred within one year of installation and before prosthetic loading.

Although the number of subjects in the study was small and the group distribution somewhat uneven, the findings indicate that the chronological age of the patient alone does not seem to be a determining factor in the prognosis for osseointegration.