Objectives: To review the literature on retrograde periimplantitis symptoms, risk factors, and treatment methods and to propose a decision-making tree of retrograde periimplantitis management.
Materials and methods: An electronic literature search was conducted on the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases for articles published between 1990 and 2015. Clinical human studies in the English language were included.
Results: The search resulted in 44 case reports published by 27 authors. The average time of the diagnosis of the pathology was found to be 26.07 weeks after implant placement (SD ± 39.7). Fistula formation was found to be the most common clinical symptom, statistically significantly more often occurring in the maxilla (P = 0.04). A negative correlation was found between pain and the adjacent tooth with incomplete endodontic treatment/endodontic pathology (r = -0.4; P = 0.009) and a positive correlation between the later risk factor and implant removal (r = 0.3; P = 0.028). Regenerative treatment (45.2% of the cases) or implant removal (35.7% of the cases) was the most common treatment techniques used. A decision-making tree of retrograde periimplantitis management is suggested.
Conclusions: The etiology of retrograde periimplantitis is most often infectious. A decision-making tree aimed at managing patients with retrograde periimplantitis according to the possible etiology and symptoms of the disease can be a useful tool in the treatment of the pathology.