The impact of a change in classification criteria on the prevalence of peri-implantitis: A cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND

Peri-implantitis is a frequent finding but estimates of its prevalence vary widely. This may be due to the wide variety of disease definitions. In 2017 the World Workshop on Periodontal and Peri-implant Diseases and Conditions established new criteria for disease definitions. The aim of this study is to assess the potential impact of a new definition on the future reporting of peri-implant disease.

METHODS

Data from a 2015 report of peri-implant prevalence were examined using the new diagnostic criteria. This cross-sectional study was performed on 95 patients with 220 implants who had their implants placed between 1998 and 2003. An examiner masked to the previous diagnosis examined the radiographs and patient data to make a diagnosis based on 3 mm of bone loss from the expected level of bone. This reanalysis was used to calculate the prevalence of peri-implant disease and generate new relative risk indicators.

RESULTS

The mean follow-up time for the patients was 10.9 years. Using the 2017 criteria, peri-implant mucositis was found in 35.3% of the implants and 52.2% of the subjects, and peri-implantitis occurred in 8.7% of the implants and 15.2% of the subjects. This constituted a drop in peri-implantitis at both patient and implant level of nearly 50% from the prior analysis. Smoking at time of implant placement emerged as a new risk factor in this analysis that was not identified in the prior analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The new diagnostic criteria significantly reduce the reported prevalence of peri-implantitis and bring new risk factors into focus.