Pterygoid Implants Survived at 95% but Failed More Often Than Conventional Implants

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Pterygoid implants used to rehabilitate the atrophic edentulous maxilla survived at 95.25%, but carried a significantly higher risk of loss than conventional implants placed in the same full-arch cases, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online Sept. 11 in the International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery.

Six studies met the inclusion criteria out of 466 records identified. Together they covered 466 participants and 3,844 implants, of which 904 were pterygoid and 2,940 were conventional.

Conventional implants survived at 97.88%. The pooled risk ratio for implant loss with pterygoid placement was 1.54, with a 95% confidence interval of 1.05 to 2.24 and P = .030. Heterogeneity was not significant, at I² = 13%.

Marginal bone loss was the thinner half of the analysis. Only one of the six studies assessed it, reporting 0.64 to 0.68 mm around pterygoid implants and 0.61 to 0.62 mm around conventional implants. One study reported immediate loading but gave too little detail to compare survival between the two approaches.

Database searches ran through April 2026 and captured randomized, nonrandomized, and observational human studies comparing pterygoid with conventional implants for full maxillary rehabilitation. The meta-analysis was run in RevMan 5.4, and risk of bias was assessed with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale.

Researchers at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, led the review, with coauthors at the Federal University of Alagoas, CHISTHUS University, and the University of Parma in Italy.

Three of the six included studies were rated at low risk of bias and three at high risk. The authors described pterygoid implants as a potential approach for the atrophic maxilla while calling for further high-quality controlled trials, noting that the survival gap and the methodological limits of the available evidence both temper the finding.

Sources:
International Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, “Effectiveness of pterygoid dental implants in the complete arch rehabilitation of the edentulous maxilla: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” published online Sept. 11, 2026: doi.org/10.1016/j.ijom.2026.08.036
PubMed record, PMID 42728116: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42728116