Risk Factors and their Implications of Peri-Implantitis: A Retrospective Study

Objectives: Peri-implantitis is emerging as a major complication with dental implants and the most common cause of implant failure.The present study attempted to identiy risk factors associated with peri-implantitis.
Methods: A retrospective keyword search of the clinical notes of UNLV School of Dental Medicine (SDM) patient charts in axiUm™ was performed using the search terms “peri-implantitis”, “peri implantitis” and “perimplantitis” to identify the number of cases clinically identified as peri-implantitis. The inclusion criteria for the patient population encompassed patients who were ≥18 years seen in the dental clinic from January 2014 through September 2018. The patient demographics were analyzed using a Chi-square test compared to the population demographics for Clark County and UNLV SDM clinic populations.
Results: Twenty-eight patients were identified as cases with peri-implantitis. Males represented 60.7% of the peri-implantitis cases. Patients in the age range of 65-69 years exhibited the highest number of (21.4%) peri-implantitis cases. Maxillary place implants comprised 53.3% of the peri-implantitis cases. Oral location predilection for peri-implantitis was the mandibular first molar (24.4%). Social and medical/dental history were also evaluated with periodontitis (60.7%), hypertension (28.6%), cancer (21.4%), and sinusitis and asthma (17.9%) being the five conditions displaying the highest associated risk. Peri-implantitis was significant among Caucasians (62.7%), followed by Hispanics (29%), and African Americans (11%).
Conclusions: The findings support previous claims that pre-existing periodontitis remains the strongest predictor of peri-implantitis. This data also noted a potential contribution of location of the implants, patient age, hypertension, and a history of cancer as additional risk considerations for development of peri-implantitis.