Is a two-month healing period long enough to achieve osseointegration? A prospective clinical cohort study

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of loading at 2 months after the surgical placement of implants. A tapered implant was used. Implant stability was determined using resonance frequency analysis at implant insertion (T0; primary stability), after 2 months (T1), and at the 6-month follow-up (T2). Descriptive statistics and the t-test were used. Significance was at P ≤ 0.05. A total of 268 implants were inserted in 142 patients. No patient dropped out and no implant had failed at the 6-month follow-up. The mean implant stability quotient value (ISQ) increased over time, with a statistically non-significant difference for T0 vs. T1 (P = 0.08) and a statistically significant difference for T1 vs. T2 (P = 0.0018) and T0 vs. T2 (P = 0.000). Only 99 implants, characterized by an extremely high mean primary stability value (80.34), did not have a recorded increase in ISQ at T1. A 2-month healing period allowed the implant to achieve secondary stability, confirming the effectiveness of the loading protocol at 2 months.