Type 2 Diabetes and Dental Implants?

The increasing prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) remains a global health concern. Should clinicians consider type 2 Diabetes a factor when developing their treatment strategies for dental implants? A recent study 1 assessed the long-term implant survival rates and bone loss in patients with moderately controlled type 2 diabetes as compared to the nondiabetic population.

The conclusion:

Comparable to data published earlier, no statistical significance in survival rate was found between the nondiabetic and diabetic population. The delayed insertion protocol presented the least bone loss, compared with immediate insertion (P = .06), and compared with early insertion (P = .046)…The results show that implant survival and bone loss levels were comparable to reported outcomes in the nondiabetic population. The delayed insertion protocol presented less bone loss compared with other insertion methods. Likewise, less bone loss was found in implants placed in the posterior region.1Read More

How do you approach patients with type 2 diabetes in your implant practice? What has been your success rate with these patients?

1.The Effect of Moderately Controlled Type 2 Diabetes on Dental Implant Survival and Peri-implant Bone Loss: A Long-Term Retrospective Study.. Int J Oral Maxillofac Implants. 2018 Mar/Apr;33(2):389-394. Ormianer Z et al.

3 Comments on Type 2 Diabetes and Dental Implants?

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DR JLD
4/17/2018
Define "moderately controlled type II diabetes" please. I am much more comfortable placing implants in patients whose disease is properly controlled and their A1C is WNL. Other than that, I am not so anxious to place implants.
Ruth Davila
2/24/2020
Have dental clinic nearby Franklin Park Illinois 60131 ?
Greg Kammeyer, DDS, MS
6/20/2018
There is another study by Naujokat in Journal of Implant Dentistry 2016 that concludes: The survival rate of implants in diabetics does not differ from the survival rate in healthy patients within the first 6 years • The long-term observation up to 20 years showed a reduced implant survival rate in diabetic patients • Patients with poorly controlled diabetes seem to have delayed osseointegration following implantation. After 1 year, there is no difference between diabetic and healthy individuals, not even to the poorly controlled HbA1c. Therefore, it is a recommendation to avoiding immediate loading of the implants. I haven't seen a study that stratifies A1C and correlates with outcomes so the more controlled the better.

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