The overview of antimicrobial peptide-coated implants against oral bacterial infections Special Issue: Emerging Investigators

Dental implants are the most common therapeutic approach for resolving tooth loss and damage. Despite technical advances in treatment, implant failure rates can be as high as 23% with the major cause of peri-implantitis: a multi-species bacterial infection. With an annual growth rate in implant placements of 8.78% per annum, implant failure caused by bacterial infection is a significant oral and general health issue. The rise in antibiotic resistance in oral bacteria further adds pressure to implant failure; thus, there is a need for adjunctive therapy to improve implant outcomes. Due to the broad spectrum of activity and a low risk of inducing bacterial resistance, peptide antibiotics are emerging as a promising implant coating material to reduce/prevent peri-implantitis and improve dental implant success rates. In this review, we summarised the current strategies of coating antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) onto dental implant material surfaces with multi-functional properties to enhance osteoblast growth and prevent bacterial infections. This review compared the recent reported literature on dental implant coating with AMPs, which will provide an overview of the current dental implant coating strategies using AMPs and insights for future clinical applications.