Consistency of Dental Hygiene Therapy Utilizing Various Dental Hygiene Instrumentation and Its Effect on Peri-implant Health and Survival of Dental Implants: A Retrospective Study

• Published in: The International journal of oral and maxillofacial implants Vol. 32; no. 6; p. 1371
• Main Authors: Hoerler, Sarah B, Nietz, Sandra K, Zook, Victoria L, Lohse, Christine M, Salinas, Thomas J, Carr, Alan B, Assad, Daniel A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-11-2017
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Dental Implants; Dental Prosthesis Retention; Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Oral Health; Oral Hygiene - instrumentation; Oral Hygiene - utilization; Retrospective Studies; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1942-4434
• DOI: 10.11607/jomi.5715

The purpose of this retrospective study was to provide practice-based evidence to determine if the consistency of dental hygiene therapy, despite utilizing instrumentation literature that has proven to cause alterations to implant surfaces, affects peri-implant health or survival.
The study sample comprised patients with implant-supported full-arch fixed dental prostheses who were distributed into two groups. The consistent hygiene group patients had dental hygiene therapy at a minimum biannually and were exposed to at least three dental hygiene instrument materials. The inconsistent hygiene group patients had dental hygiene therapy at a minimum once every 3 to 10 years and were exposed to at least three dental hygiene instrument materials. Years of survival free of soft tissue pathology and/or implant failure were estimated. Continuous features were summarized with medians, interquartile ranges (IQRs), and ranges; categorical features were summarized with frequency counts and percentages.
Among 48 patients in the consistent hygiene group, 11 patients experienced soft tissue pathology or implant failure at a median of 11.3 years; among 99 patients in the inconsistent hygiene group, 17 patients experienced soft tissue pathology or implant failure at a median of 4.8 years. The survival free of soft tissue pathology or implant failure rate at 5 years was 94% for the consistent hygiene group and 91% for the inconsistent hygiene group. The survival free of soft tissue pathology or implant failure rate at 20 years was 70% for the consistent hygiene group and 79% for the inconsistent hygiene group (P = .91).
Although no statistical differences were found between the groups, this practice-based evidence suggests more consistent dental hygiene therapy increases the median in years in which soft tissue pathology or implant failure is present.