Dental Implants Placed in Grafted and Non-Grafted Sites: A Systematic Review

Purpose: There is a scarcity of data regarding the long-term follow-up of dental implants placed in grafted or non-grafted sites. The aim was to systematically review clinical studies which, compared the implant survival rate (ISR) after at least 10 years for dental implants placed in grafted and non-grafted sites. Materials and Methods: The focused question addressed was: 'Is there a difference in the ISR of dental implants placed in grafted and non-grafted sites for at least a decade?' The inclusion criteria were: (a) clinical studies, (b) studies on patients who had undergone dental implant therapy, (c) studies with at least 10 years follow-up, and (d) studies that compared the clinical and radiographic status around implants placed in grafted and non-grafted sites. Indexed databases (PubMed/Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, OVID, ISI Web of Knowledge, and Google Scholar) were searched without time and language re-strictions up to and including December 2020 using different keywords. The literature search was performed in accor-dance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The risk of bias was assessed, and the pattern of the present systematic review was customised to summarise pertinent information. Results: The initial search yielded 412 studies through electronic database searching. An additional 30 studies were iden-tified through manual searching of full texts of studies. In total, three studies were included and processed for data ex-traction. In these studies, the number of participants ranged between 34 and 96 individuals. The mean age ranged between 47.2 and 67.6 years. The reported ISR ranged between 91.6% and 100%. All studies had a low risk of bias. Due to the high heterogeneity among the studies included, a meta-analysis could not be done. Prior sample-size estimation was done in none of the studies. Conclusion: Dental implants placed in grafted and non-grafted sites demonstrate similar ISR for at least a decade. How-ever, further well-designed and power-adjusted studies are needed.