This study aimed to explore the ten-year survival rates (SR), complication rates, and marginal bone loss (MBL) of short dental implants (≤ 6 mm). Literature searches were conducted in four databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and prospective studies reporting clinical outcomes of short dental implants with ten years of follow-up were included. Both single-group meta-analyses and paired-comparison meta-analyses were conducted utilizing the statistical software R version 4.3.1. An interpolation model was employed to handle missing data for the sensitivity meta-analysis of SR. The number of PROSPERO was CRD42024522613. A total of 8 studies (4 RCTs and 4 prospective) were included. The single-group meta-analyses encompassed 8 studies. The pooled estimate of 10-year SR was 91.2% (95% CI: 0.843–0.965) at the patient level (PL) and 93.7% (95% CI: 0.878–0.980) at the implant level (IL). Sensitivity meta-analysis estimates were 89.7% (PL) and 92.8% (IL). Subgroup analyses revealed that screw retention implants had lower SR than cemented retention. The incidence of technical complications was 23.5%, while biological complications included peri-implant mucositis (33.6%) and peri-implantitis (0.4%). The pooled MBL estimates over ten years were 0.277 mm for both the PL and IL. Paired-comparison meta-analyses of four RCTs showed that short implants had a significantly lower 10-year SR than long implants (RR, 0.920 (95% CI: 0.857–0.987) at the PL and RR, 0.943 (95% CI: 0.896–0.992) at the IL), but no significant differences were observed in technical, biological complications, or MBL. For patients with jawbone atrophy, short implants may represent a viable long-term treatment option, although their 10-year survival rate is slightly lower than that of standard implants. However, given the limitations of this study, the above conclusions and their clinical implications should be interpreted with caution.
Lin et al. (2026) studied this question.