Implant Success Rate
The percentage of implants meeting all predefined clinical, radiographic, and patient-reported criteria—such as absence of pain, adequate bone levels, and infection-free status—at a specified follow-up.
Full Definition
Implant success rate applies more stringent criteria than implant survival rate, typically requiring absence of persistent pain or paraesthesia, no peri-implant infection, acceptable crestal bone levels (commonly ≤1.5 mm loss after the first year), and satisfactory function and aesthetics. Albrektsson's success criteria remain widely cited. Because different authors apply different criteria, editors should verify which definition is operationalised and flag inconsistencies. Success rate values are always lower than or equal to survival rate values for the same dataset.
Usage
Usage note: Ensure the criteria used to define success are stated explicitly in any clinical report; do not use interchangeably with survival rate.
In Context
- "Applying Albrektsson's criteria, the implant success rate at three years was 91.8%, substantially lower than the 98.2% survival rate." — Clinical outcomes paper
- "The editor added a footnote clarifying that 'success' was defined per the modified Albrektsson criteria to distinguish it from the survival figures reported in Table 1." — Journal copy-editing