Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the changes produced in peri-implant tissues in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with different glycemia levels, measured by monitoring glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), over a period of 3 years following dental implant placement.
Materials and methods: Sixty-seven patients were divided into four groups according to their HbA1c levels: 21 patients in Group 1 (<6); 24 patients in Group 2 (6.1-8); and 11 patients in Group 3 (8.1-10) and Group 4 (>10.1). Each patient received one implant. All implants were placed in the anterior zone of the maxilla. The variables selected to assess the general state of patients' peri-implant health were as follows: probing depth, bleeding on probing, and marginal bone loss.
Results: Marginal bone loss was found to increase in relation to increases in HbA1c levels. Bleeding on probing showed statistically significant differences between groups. When the peri-implant area was probed, mean levels of bleeding varied from 0.43 in Group 1 at 1 year after implant surgery to 0.62 in Group 4 (P = 0.042 between the four study groups). After the second year, greater bleeding on probing was observed in Group 4 (0.63) in comparison with groups with lower HbA1c levels. Peri-implant pocket depths presented values that were too low to be considered pathological and without statistically significant differences between the study groups.
Conclusion: Implant therapies for diabetic patients can be predictable, providing these patients fall within controlled ranges of glycemia over time, assessed by monitoring HbA1c levels.
Keywords: dental implants; marginal bone loss; peri-implant mucositis; peri-implantitis; type 2 diabetes mellitus.
© 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.