In 2014, Dr. Jack Hahn began collaborating with the engineers and clinicians at Glidewell Dental to create the Hahn™ Tapered Implant System based on his extensive clinical experience since conceiving the original tapered implant in 1997.

Four years after the implant’s introduction in 2015, the Hahn Tapered Implant System has been successfully adopted by thousands of dentists worldwide who have found it to be straightforward, economical and efficient. Now, a recently completed retrospective study by Dr. Mayuri Kerr, Brett Allen and Dr. Neil Park, “Clinical and Radiographic Evaluation of Tapered Implants with an Aggressive Reverse Buttress Thread and Crestal Microthreads: A Retrospective Study,” provides scientific evidence of the system’s clinical success as well.¹

Results from this study of 259 Hahn Tapered Implants placed in 101 patients who were followed clinically for a period of two years showed the following:

• 99.2% overall success rate
• Mean marginal bone loss of less than 0.2 mm over two years
• The total amount of marginal bone loss actually decreased between years one and two, indicating that in many cases marginal bone height actually increased
• 33 implants gained bone above the marginal collar

Dr. Hahn’s mission in creating the Hahn Tapered Implant System was simple: to develop a high-quality implant at a price point that’s affordable to as many people as possible, with a straightforward, efficient protocol accessible to clinicians and effective for use in a variety of demanding situations.

• Tapered design for placement in anatomically constricted areas
• Coronal microthreads for crestal bone preservation^2,3,4
• Resorbable blast media (RBM) surface promotes osseointegration⁵
• Sharp buttress threads for primary stability in all bone types^6,7
• Machined collar facilitates soft-tissue maintenance^8,9
• Aggressively angled thread pattern enables precise directional control
• Self-tapping grooves facilitate efficient delivery¹⁰
• Array of sizes for placement in all regions of the mouth

A total of 259 Hahn Tapered Implants were placed in 101 patients by six dentists in the operatories of Glidewell Dental between April 2015 and April 2018. Patients involved in the study represented a range of health statuses and histories, including individuals with issues such as smoking, diabetes and hypertension.

Following well-established clinical research methods, bone loss was measured as the distance from the implant shoulder to the first contact of bone to implant, from both the mesial and distal sides.

Over 70% of implants measured demonstrated less than 0.5 mm of bone loss per year, with 32.35% of the implants maintaining bone well above the machined collar. Average mean bone loss was 0.23 mm after one year and 0.18 mm after two years. This result places the Hahn Tapered Implant System well below the 1–1.5 mm of bone loss expected as standard, as outlined in the study by Albrektsson et al, indicating that the system achieved results superior to those in similar studies of comparable implant systems.¹¹

Perhaps more significantly, the total amount of mean bone loss around each implant actually decreased between the first and second years of the study, from 0.23 mm in year one, to 0.18 mm after year two.

The design of the Hahn Tapered Implant System includes a number of features that promote osseointegration and the maintenance of marginal bone levels:

• Coronal microthreads, which help maximize bone-implant contact with an increased surface area, have been proven to increase crestal bone preservation.^2,3,4
• The implant is treated with resorbable blast media (RBM), which involves a blasting process that texturizes the titanium surface of the implant and results in an ultra-clean, rough surface that has been proven ideal for bone integration and health.⁵
• In cases where bone loss occurs and the neck of the implant is exposed, the smooth metal surface of the implant’s machined cervical collar reduces attachment of biofilm, further assisting in bone preservation.¹⁵

The second main factor used in evaluating success of the implants during this two-year study was their survival rate throughout the full time period. Survival was defined as an asymptomatic implant with adequate bone support around it.

In the results from this two-year study, of the total 257 implants originally placed, two experienced early failure and were removed and replaced within the first four months of the study. This brought the study total to 259 implants. Of that number, all were considered successful at the end of the study period, meaning they were asymptomatic and healthy with adequate bone support around them. No loosened or broken screws or abutments were reported, and no complications with any of the final restorations were noted.

The Hahn system is designed to promote long-term survival of implants, with a few key features promoting implant stability and health of the implant site:

• Sharp buttress threads help dissipate the stress transfer pathway, from a single high-stress point to various areas of the bone at each thread tip. This results in a reduction of stress on the bone, which increases levels of osseointegration and bone health without sacrificing bone-implant contact. This promotes better primary stability as well as long-term health for the implant.
• A machined collar, which prevents exposure of the rough surface of the implant to the peri-implant soft tissues. This promotes soft-tissue health and prevents potential bacteria-related inflammation, leading to better overall soft-tissue health and thus a more stable implant over time.

At the conclusion of this study, the factors evaluated and explained above combined to create an overall success rate of 99.2%. When compared with similar studies, this number shows that Hahn Tapered Implants outperform the majority of implant systems on the market today.

The market success of the Hahn Tapered Implant System has proven that clinicians are finding it to be an efficient and clinically advantageous implant solution. Now, with the results of this clinical study, the Hahn system offers confirmed scientific evidence of its success. This puts the Hahn system among the top clinically validated systems of its type and demonstrates its superior performance in comparison with other dental implants on the market.

The unique design features of the Hahn Tapered Implant System are intended to maximize patient bone health, esthetics and long-term implant survival. Users of the Hahn system can now proceed with the confidence that these benefits are not only commonly experienced in the operatory, but are scientifically proven as well.

To read the full two-year study, visit hahnimplant.com.