Implants and the Elderly Patient

According to their biological age elderly people can be distinguished in the three groups: "go goes" - independent living, "slow goes" - needy people and "no goes" - people needing long-term care. Health improvements with dental implants are well documented. Therefore implant prostheses should be taken into consideration in decision making of prosthodontic treatment of elderly patients. Age is no longer considered as a contraindication to implants. Cardiovascular diseases require adequate surgical procedures. Severe and long lasting diabetes typ II and osteoporosis seem to reduce slightly the survival of implants. In the future studies have to show which risks exist between oral bisphosphonate therapy and placing dental implants. Both, smoking and bad oral hygiene are sure to diminish the survival rate of implants. Daily maintenance and a regular recall must be ensured before treatment beginning. Especially in elderly patients it is favourable that implants improve food intake, can prevent a change to a new prosthesis or from a fixed to a removable one and gross changing of the occlusion. These benefits must be balanced against the burden of implant treatment and its maintenance in every individual case.