Is Low Serum Vitamin D Associated with Early Dental Implant Failure? A Retrospective Evaluation on 1625 Implants Placed in 822 Patients.

Carmen Mortellaro,Natale Mangano,Francesco Mangano,Carlo Mangano

doi:10.1155/2016/5319718

Abstract

Aim. To investigate whether there is a correlation between early dental implant failure and low serum levels of vitamin D. Methods. All patients treated with dental implants in a single centre, in the period 2003–2015, were considered for enrollment in this study. The main outcome was early implant failure. The influence of patient-related variables on implant survival was calculated using the Chi-square test. Results. 822 patients treated with 1625 implants were selected for this study; 27 early failures (3.2%) were recorded. There was no link between gender, age, smoking, history of periodontitis, and an increased incidence of early failures. Statistical analysis reported 9 early failures (2.2%) in patients with serum levels of vitamin D > 30 ng/mL, 16 early failures (3.9%) in patients with levels between 10 and 30 ng/mL, and 2 early failures (9.0%) in patients with levels <10 ng/mL. Although there was an increasing trend in the incidence of early implant failures with the worsening of vitamin D deficiency, the difference between these 3 groups was not statistically significant (P = 0.15). Conclusions. This study failed in proving an effective link between low serum levels of vitamin D and an increased risk of early implant failure. Further studies are needed to investigate this topic.

Highlights

Dental implants are a reliable solution for the functional and esthetic rehabilitation of partially and completely edentulous patients; this has been demonstrated by long-term clinical trials, with survival rates of greater than 95% [1,2,3].In order to achieve long-term survival, osseointegration of the dental implant needs to occur; that is, a direct connection must be established between the bone and the implant surface, without the interposition of fibrous tissue [4]; once established, this close bond must be maintained over time, resulting in a clinically asymptomatic fixation of the implant under functional load [5]
The same was true for patients with a history of periodontal disease; they displayed a slightly higher incidence of early failures than patients who had not been affected by periodontitis, but this difference was not significant (P = 0.73)
The statistical analysis revealed a trend toward an increased incidence of failure in patients with severe vitamin D deficiency, the analysis did not reveal a statistically significant difference (P = 0.15) in the incidence of early implant failure in these three groups of patients

Summary

Introduction

Dental implants are a reliable solution for the functional and esthetic rehabilitation of partially and completely edentulous patients; this has been demonstrated by long-term clinical trials, with survival rates of greater than 95% [1,2,3].In order to achieve long-term survival, osseointegration of the dental implant needs to occur; that is, a direct connection must be established between the bone and the implant surface, without the interposition of fibrous tissue [4]; once established, this close bond must be maintained over time, resulting in a clinically asymptomatic fixation of the implant under functional load [5]. Failure to osseointegrate and peri-implantitis are the most frequent causes of early implant failure [3, 6, 7] Such events occur during the early stages of healing (within 2-3 months of implantation) and before the implant is functionally loaded with the prosthetic restoration; these failures are unevenly distributed within the general population and tend to occur in some subjects in particular. In these individuals multiple or repeated failures over time are possible [6, 7].

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion