This article was written based on a special lecture presented by the author at the 41st annual academic meeting of the Tohoku-Hokkaido branch of the Japanese Society of Oral Implantology. The main theme of this academic meeting was “Towards the changing society and coming new era” ; both the special lecture and this article have the same title. Although various topics involved in this theme were presented in the special lecture, only two topics are discussed in this article : dental implant treatment in the ultra-aged society, and the strategy of dental implant treatment from the viewpoint of long-term prognosis.

There are three major problems regarding dental implant treatment in the ultra-aged society in Japan today : 1) problems regarding implant treatment for elderly patients, 2) problems arising a long time after implant treatment when patients become elderly, and 3) problems occurring after patients start requiring nursing care a long time after receiving implant treatment when they were younger and in good physical condition.

In the ultra-aged society, it is important to maintain masticatory function for as long as possible. The key for this is to establish stable and firm occlusal support by dental treatment, and then to maintain the established occlusal support for a long period. Dental implants are very effective as well as a useful treatment for this purpose.

In order to accomplish this goal, dentists should foresee the risk factors for the long-term success of dental implant treatment at the time of treatment planning, then implement the treatment in accordance with the plan and observe the patients in line with those factors.