Background To evaluate early failure and possible risk factors for failure of dental implants placed under practice-based conditions. Methods To clarify the research question, anonymized data from 106 patients with 186 dental implants were analyzed. The presence of sucessful healing (yes/no) at the time of incorporation of the final prosthesis was assessed. Mixed models were compiled for each target variable to enable estimation of the effects of patient-related and implant-related conditions on the risk of early implant failure. Results Nine out of 186 implants (4.8%) placed in 106 participants failed before incorporation of the final prosthesis. The use of shorter implants (< 10 mm) and the need for augmentation procedures were associated with a greater risk of early implant failure. For shorter implants, the risk was 5.8 times greater than that for longer implants ( p = 0.0230). Use of augmentation procedures increased the risk by a factor of 5.5 ( p = 0.0174). Conclusions Implants placed in the dental practice with a specialization in implantology heal successfully. The use of augmentation procedures and of implants shorter than 10 mm seems to be associated with a greater risk of early implant failure.

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