Changes in the Oral Microbiota Induced by Peri-implantitis: A Meta-Analysis

Peri-implantitis is an infectious disease around dental implants characterized by inflammation of the peri-implant connective tissues and progressive loss of supporting bone, with an estimated prevalence of around 22%. Peri-implantitis microbiota is different from that observed in both periodontitis and healthy implants. Knowledge of this microbiota is crucial for the proper treatment of the disease.

To assess the differences in the oral microbiota in dental implant-bearing patients with and without peri-implantitis.

A search for studies on microbiota and peri-implantitis up to June 2021 was conducted in the following databases: PubMed (MEDLINE, Cochrane Library), Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, LILACS, and Google Scholar. For dichotomous outcomes, the effects of the intervention were expressed as odds ratios (OR) using Mantel-Haenszel (M-H) method with 95% confidence intervals.

Twelve studies with 1324 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Peri-implantitis patients were more likely to be carriers of the following microorganisms: Tannerella forsythia (OR=3.17, 95% CI: 1.55 to 6.51, P<0.01); Prevotella intermedia (OR=2.21, 95% CI: 1.73 to 2.82, P<0.001); Treponema denticola (OR=2.18, 95% CI: 1.70 to 2.79, P<0.001); Porphyromonas gingivalis (OR=2.04, 95% CI: 1.16 to 3.59, P=0.01); Fusobacterium nucleatum (OR=1.81, 95% CI: 1.21 to 2.72, P<0.01), and Campylobacter rectus (OR=1.69, 95% CI: 1.32 to 2.17, P<0.001). In contrast, the bacteria Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Streptococcus mitis were more prevalent in peri-implantitis patients but not significantly (P>0.05).

Peri-implantitis modifies the quantitative and qualitative composition of the oral microbiota.