The prevalence of peri-implant diseases in patients with metabolic syndrome: a case-control study on an Italian population sample.

Background: The correlation of peri-implantitis with systemic diseases is still highly debated and controversial in literature. The objective of this work was to evaluate the possible association between peri-implant diseases and metabolic syndrome.

Methods: In this case-control study, subjects healthy or affected by metabolic syndrome, with at least one dental implant with >5 years of functional loading were screened to detect peri-implant health or diseases. A complete full mouth periodontal and peri-implant examination at six sites was performed for each implant and standardized periapical X-ray were taken to evaluate marginal bone loss. Diagnostic Criteria of the 2017 World Workshop on the Classification of Periodontal and Peri-Implant Diseases and Conditions were applied. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare means of recorded variables between the two groups, with a P<0.05 value considered statistically significant. Sub-group analysis was performed for smoking (smokers vs. non-smokers), sex (males vs. females), implant site (maxillary vs. mandible) and type of prostheses (single crown vs. bridge).

Results: Forty-one patients were enrolled, divided into two groups, for a total of 132 dental implants: 71 in the metabolic syndrome group and 61 in the control group. The overall prevalence of peri-implant diseases (peri-implantitis + mucositis) in the two groups was, respectively, 93% vs. 63%, with an odds ratio (OR) of 7.4462 (95% CI: 2.6092; 21.2496) for the metabolic syndrome group (P<0.001).

Conclusions: Despite the limited sample, our results showed a statistically significant higher prevalence of peri-implant diseases in patients with metabolic syndrome compared to healthy patients. Further longitudinal studies are needed to verify this relationship.