Early Findings from the Dental Implant Registry ANZAOMS 2025

This year’s ANZAOMS Annual Scientific Meeting brought together oral and maxillofacial

surgeons, specialists, researchers and industry innovators for three days of collaboration and forward-thinking discussion.

For the Dental Implant Registry (DIR), it was an important milestone: our first major presence at ANZAOMS, with a full exhibition booth and a dedicated presentation from our Chief Investigator, Dr Steven Soukoulis, unveiling early results from the Australia–New Zealand Dental Implant Registry.

A Growing Need for National Implant Data

Australia and New Zealand collectively perform approximately 420,000 dental implant procedures every year, supported by a workforce of more than 28,700 dentists across both countries.Yet, unlike many other medical devices, the long-term performance, complications, and outcomes related to dental implants have historically relied on fragmented data, individual practice audits, or manufacturer-held information.

The DIR is changing that.

As an independent, ethics-approved registry capturing real-world implant and prosthetic data, the DIR is developing a comprehensive, population-level understanding of implant performance across systems, clinicians, age groups and indications.

DIR at the ANZAOMS Exhibition Hall

Throughout the event, attendees had the opportunity to visit the DIR booth to:

• See live demos of the DIR registration platform and digital Patient Implant Card

• Learn about the latest opt-out consent model and free registration for all patients (new updates announced earlier this year)

• Understand how practices can seamlessly integrate DIR submissions into their existing workflows

• Discuss research opportunities, data collaborations, and future analytical dashboards

The booth drew strong interest from oral surgeons and registrars, particularly around tracking device performance, complications, and long-term outcomes across the region.

Dr Soukoulis Presents the First ANZ Registry Findings

A highlight of the ASM program was Dr Steven Soukoulis’ talk titled “Early Results from the ANZ Dental Implant Registry”, where he presented preliminary insights from over 4,842 registered patients and 9,617 devices recorded across Australia and New Zealand.

Some of the key findings included:

1. Who Is Receiving Implants?

• Average patient age: 65–69 years

• Median age: 62 years

• Youngest patient: 19 years

• Oldest patient: 96 years

• Patients over 50 receive more implants on average (1.83 devices per patient vs 1.48 for patients under 50)

2. Where Are Implants Being Placed?

The most commonly replaced tooth sites were:

• Molar positions

• Maxillary incisors

• These made up 62% of all implant sites recorded.

3. Device Characteristics

• Most common implant lengths:

  • 10 mm (most frequent)

  • followed by 8 mm and 12 mm

• Most common implant width: 4–5 mm diameter (range 2.75–9 mm)

4. Clinical Indications

Out of all implants registered, the highest volumes were for:

• Single-tooth cases

• All-on-X cases (placed across perio, OMFS, prosthodontic and general dental clinicians)

• Periodontists placed the most single implants and OMFS the most All on X cases

5. Complications & Replacements

• Only 0.3% of implants were replaced within the first five years

• 67.78% of early implant failures occurred within the first 12 months

• Grafting did not significantly increase complication rates (3.23% grafted vs 3.39% non grafted)

These early data points highlight the potential of the registry to guide best-practice protocols, improve patient safety, and support evidence-based decision-making across the region.

Why This Matters for Clinicians and Patients

By collecting nationwide implant and abutment data across all brands and clinician types, the DIR aims to:

• Improve long-term patient outcomes

• Support early detection of device issues

• Provide robust evidence for clinical decision-making

• Enable transparent, real-time device identification via patient implant cards

• Contribute to national research and peer-reviewed publications

With more than 120 medical device registries operating in Australia, the DIR fills a critical gap for the dental community — creating the first large-scale, independent dataset for dental implant performance.

Looking Ahead

The momentum from ANZAOMS 2025 marks a significant step forward for the Dental Implant Registry.

With more specialists joining the registry each month and growing interest from industry, universities, and research groups, the DIR is poised to become one of the most important implant-related research infrastructures in the world.

We extend our thanks to everyone who visited our booth, attended Dr Soukoulis’ lecture, and contributed to the ongoing conversation about safety, quality, and transparency in implant dentistry.

For clinicians who would like to participate or learn more, visit: www.dentalimplantregistry.org.au

You can watch the full presentation of Dr Soukoulis Key Insights from the Dental Implant Registry ANZAOMS 2025 Presentation below: