Influence of maintenance care in periodontally susceptible and non‐susceptible subjects following implant therapy

Objectives To compare the periodontal and peri-implant conditions of periodontally susceptible and periodontally healthy subjects under maintenance care for a period of at least 3 years. Material and methods Sixty periodontally susceptible patients (PSP) and 56 periodontally non-susceptible subjects (PHS) were treated with dental implants in the National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS) and were maintained in a regular supportive periodontal care program for a mean of 6 years. Full mouth bleeding on probing (BoP), full mouth probing pocket depths (PPD), implant loss, and absence of crestal bone loss were recorded at the time of prosthesis delivery and following a mean follow-up of 6 years 2 months. Results Although there were significant differences in the BoP and the percentage of subjects with tooth probing pocket depth ≥5 mm between PSP and PHS at the time of implant prosthesis installation (T0), there were no significant differences between the two subject groups in the various parameters assessed at the follow-up visit (T1) (total number of teeth, percentage of subjects with implant probing pocket depth ≥5 mm, percentage of subjects with implant probing pocket depth ≥ 6 mm, absence of crestal bone loss, implant loss). Conclusion Owing to a rigid regular SPT program, implants placed in PSP perform equally well when compared to implants installed in PHS over a mean period of 6-year follow-up.