Survival and Success of Dental Implants in Patients with Autoimmune Diseases: a Systematic Review

Objectives: The purpose of this systematic review is to disclose the impact of autoimmune diseases and their medical treatment on dental implant survival and success.

Material and Methods: A literature search was conducted using MEDLINE (PubMed), The Cochrane Library and Embase up to December 6^th, 2021. Any clinical study on patients with an autoimmune disease in whom implant therapy was performed was eligible. The quality of included studies was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. For each autoimmune disease group, data synthesis was divided into three groups: 1) overall results of the autoimmune disease, 2) overall results of corresponding control groups and 3) overall results of the autoimmune disease with a concomitant autoimmune disease (a subgroup of group 1). Descriptive statistics were used.

Results: Of 4,865 identified articles, 67 could be included and mainly comprising case reports and retrospective studies with an overall low quality. Implant survival rate was 50 to 100% on patient and implant level after a weighted mean follow-up of 17.7 to 68.1 months. Implant success was sporadically reported. Data on immunosuppressive medication were too heterogeneously reported to allow detailed analysis.

Conclusions: Overall, a high implant survival rate was reported in patients with autoimmune diseases. However, the identified studies were characterized by a low quality. No conclusions could be made regarding implant success and the effect of immunosuppressants due to heterogeneous reporting.

J Oral Maxillofac Res 2024;15(1):e1

doi: 10.5037/jomr.2024.15101

Accepted for publication: 31 March 2024

Keywords: alveolar bone loss; autoimmune diseases; connective tissue diseases; dental implants; immunosuppressive agents; systematic review.