Critical review of literature on the use of short implants

Aim The aims of this review were to verify the validity of short implants as a treatment option in patients with partial or total edentulism, having more or less atrophic jawbones. Methods A systematic review of randomized controlled trials (RCT) was conducted, involving also prospective and retrospective studies published in English language between January 2005 and December 2015. The PubMed and Scopus databases were electronically analyzed. Titles and abstracts were selected, and full texts were evaluated. The data were organized in tables and then presented as a narrative analysis. Results The electronic search provided 891 publications, 50 articles were retrieved in full text and only 11 were included in the review. Although the performance of the implants was evaluated through different success and survival criteria, short implants have shown to have a similar performance to longer implants. Conclusions Short implants could be considered as a treatment option comparable to traditional lenght implant. However, other studies must be conducted to assess uniform criteria to state the quality of treatment.