Surgical Treatment of Peri-implantitis: Treatment Results -a pilot study

Peri-implantitis is an infectious disease and one of the treatment methods involves surgical debridement of the infected area. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate treatment outcome after surgical treatment of peri-implantitis in humans. Outcome measures were reduction in pocket probing depth (PPD) and bleeding on probing and/or suppuration (BOP/Sup). Eight patients, with a total amount of 28 implants, who were diagnosed with peri-implantitis were surgically treated with a non regenerative surgical method including debridement and removal of granulation tissue combined with osteoplasty. Oral hygiene instructions were given and after 6 to 18 months a clinical re-examination was performed by two dental students at Umeå University. PPD and BOP/Sup data at the re-examination were retrospectively compared to baseline data. The results of the study showed a reduction in mean PPD and BOP/Sup after surgery at patient level. A significant reduction in mean PPD was shown (p <0.05), while the reduction in BOP/Sup was not significant. At patient level, the mean reduction in mean PPD was 1.6 mm and in BOP/Sup 26%. Results varied among patients, suggesting that treatment outcome is influenced by several different factors. Tendencies that risk factors such as smoking and poor oral hygiene may have affected the treatment result were noted. In conclusion, our study shows that surgical therapy may be a beneficial treatment method for peri-implantitis in terms of reduction of PPD and BOP/Sup.