Background: During the assessments made at presurgical, surgical, and follow-up phases, the clinician may benefit from a wide array of clinical and/or image-based measures. Because analysis of the potential associations among the various measures could improve the evaluation process for dental implants, this study attempted to determine the potential correlations among peri-implant sulcus fluid (PISF) volume, implant stability, nitric oxide content of PISF, and marginal bone loss.

Methods: Seventeen completely edentulous patients seeking prosthetic rehabilitation were included. Two ball attachment mandibular overdentures were given to all patients, and early- (N = 18) and delayed-loaded (N = 16) dental implants were compared during 24-weeks of follow-up. Resonance frequency analysis (RFA), marginal bone level, and PISF samples were taken for all dental implants.

Results: A consistent and negative correlation was observed between RFA measurements and marginal bone level, whereas some correlations also existed between RFA and PISF volume. The pattern of loading seemed to affect the relationship between RFA measurements and marginal bone level and, to a limited extent, the association between PISF volume and nitrite levels.

Conclusions: Where the potential associations among various implant-related measures are concerned, the factors that may affect such associations (e.g., healing and loading) need to be considered. Data arising from the analysis of the associations between the wide arrays of available implant-related measures may improve dental practitioners' assessment concerning endosseous dental implants.