Dental implant placement in patients on bisphosphonate therapy: a systematic review

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by Reena Wadia Patients treated with intravenous bisphosphonates seemed to have a higher chance of developing implant-related osteonecrosis of the jaw compared with those treated intraorally.

Gelazius R, Poskevicius L, Sakavicius D, Grimuta V, Juodzbalys G. J Oral Maxillofac Res 2018; 9: e2.

This review aimed to consider dental implant placement in patients who have been treated with or are currently on bisphosphonate medication. Following a literature search, nine articles between 2006 and 2017 were identified. Outcome measures included implant failure or implant-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Five of the studies analysed intraoral bisphosphonate medication, three studies investigated intravenous bisphosphonate medication and one study evaluated both types of medication in relation with implant placement. Patients with intraoral therapy appeared to have a better implant survival rate at 98.8% (fiveimplants failed out of 423) vs patients treated intravenously at 91% (six implants failed out of 68); the control group compared with intraoral bisphosphonate group appeared with 97% success implant survival rate (27 implants failed out of 842), showing no significant difference in terms of success in implant placement.