D. R. Prithviraj , K. Sounder Raj , Shruthi D. P. , Shruti Saraswat , Mamatha N , Akash Patel 

ABSTRACT

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:The recent literature underlines high success rates for dental implants but neglects the various complications that do occur with endosseous implants and associated prosthesis.PURPOSE:The purpose of this review was to appraise the available literature on the many failures and complications that may occur during implant therapy. MATERIAL AND METHODS:An electronic search restricted to the English language publications beginning in 1969 were performed in Pubmed, Science Direct. Additional publications revealed by reviewing the reference lists of articles identified through PubMed search were also taken into account. The literature search covered the years 1969 to 2015. The focus of the searches were on publications that contained data related to early and late failures, complications and clinical studies associated with dental implants.RESULTS:The search produced numerous potentially relevant titles, of which only a few were found eligible. Implant failures can be majorly categorised into 4 categories: biologic, mechanical, positional and esthetic. The most common failures i.e. the one associated with greater than 15% incidence rate are the mechanical failures which majorly includes: screw loosening, screw fracture, abutment fracture. Along with these a few uncommon complications may also occur during implant placement. CONCLUSION:Clinicians should be aware of the various failures and complications associated with dental implants, as they can be prevented by proper patient selection and treatment planning.