Prevention and management of peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis: a systematic review of outcome measures used in clinical studies in the last 10 years

Objectives: To evaluate outcome measures, methods of assessment and analysis in clinical studies on the prevention and management of peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis. Methods: Systematic electronic searches (CENTRAL/MEDLINE/SCOPUS) up to April 2021 were conducted to identify longitudinal clinical studies with ≥10 patients on either the prevention or management of peri-implant diseases. Outcome measures of this analysis were the choice of outcome measures, methods of assessment and analytical methods. Risk of Bias was evaluated according to study design. Data were extracted into evidence tables and outcomes were analyzed in a descriptive manner. Results: The analysis of the 159 selected studies revealed that probing pocket depth (PPD) and bleeding/suppuration on probing (BOP) were reported in 89% and 87% of all studies, respectively. Additional outcome measures included plaque scores (reported in 64% of studies), radiographic outcomes (49%), soft tissue dimensions (34%) and composite outcomes (26%). Adverse events (8%) and patient-reported outcomes (6%) were only rarely mentioned. A total of 36% of studies clearly defined a primary outcome measure. Data on PPD, radiographic outcomes and soft tissue dimensions were primarily reported as mean values and rarely as frequency distributions. For radiographic outcomes and soft tissue dimensions, it was frequently unclear how clustered data were handled. Conclusions: PPD and BOP were routinely reported in studies on prevention and management of peri-implant mucositis and peri-implantitis, while composite outcomes, adverse events and patient-reported outcomes were infrequently described. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.