Dental Implants: Assessment of Pain, Discomfort and Altered Sensations

Objectives: The purpose of this novel study is to establish the estimated point prevalence and characteristics of post-implant sensory disturbances (PISD) in the community of dental implant patients served by UNC’s School of Dentistry. Dental implants have become an increasingly common method for replacing missing dentition. However, some implant recipients experience PISD characterized by persistent pain and inflammation, symptoms commonly associated with peri-implantitis. This condition affects a small, but unknown, percentage of implant recipients. To date, no scientific assessment of the prevalence of PISD and its contributing putative demographic and biopsychosocial risk factors has been conducted.
Methods: The study population will be represented by a sample of approximately 200 male and female patients who have received one or more implant treatments from the UNC School of Dentistry. Assessments will be conducted on participants within 6 months to 5 years post-implantation. Demographic measures (sex and age) and measures of implant pain and sensory abnormalities will be obtained with measures of trapezius muscle pressure pain sensitivity, anxiety, depression, and somatization. In addition to a detailed intraoral exam, crevicular levels of pro- and anti- inflammatory cytokines will be measured from implant and control sites.
Results: The study is ongoing; thus, results will be available at the meeting. At present we have enrolled 105 of the 200 participants. The primary analytical goal will be to determine the prevalence and characteristics of sensory abnormalities in the cohort. Information regarding the association of various biopsychosocial and cytokine profiles with sensory disturbances and clinical measures of peri-implantitis will be reported.
Conclusions: We hypothesize that patients who experience sensory abnormalities and/or peri-implantitis following dental implant placement are characterized by unique biopsychosocial profiles compared to those who do not report sensory abnormalities. The initial outcomes of this study will be presented and discussed.