Effects of smoking on the success of dental implants: A literature review

Statement of Problem: The use of dental implants has revolutionized the treatment procedure for over last 25 years. Dental implants now have been widely accepted by the patients as their treatment plan and have become a routine procedure done by dental surgeon. Owing to the remarkable success of implant, there have been various researches going on to find out factors responsible for the failure of dental implants. With the growing use of tobacco among patients and its ill effects on bone quality and quantity has been well documented through several studies and it arises a keen interest to associate its effect on the success of implants. Purpose: To establish the relationship between smoking and implant success and its long term survival and compare the result with non-smokers based on the literature. Materials and Methods: Relevant clinical studies and reviews published in English literature published between 1990 and 2012 were reviewed. The articles were located through EBSCO host and manually through the references of peer reviewed literature. Results: Most of the literatures supported the fact that smoking is a prominent risk factor affecting the success of dental implants. Studies reported that implant failure and its complications associated are twice in smokers as compared to nonsmokers. Literatures also revealed that maxillary implant are more affected than mandibular in smokers. Several studies suggested that effects of smoking were reversible in smokers who followed the smoking cessation protocol prior to the procedure. Conclusions: smokers have a greater chances of implant failure and more prone to the complications following implants and related procedures. Surgeons should stress on counseling of patient willing for implant for smoking cessations protocols. Key words Dental implants, failures, nicotine, Smoking, cessations, success, survival