Comparative analysis of imaging techniques for diagnostic accuracy of peri-implant bone defects: a meta-analysis

Objective. The aim of this study was to systematically review the literature regarding diagnostic accuracy of imaging techniques in detecting peri-implant bone defects. Study Design. The search was performed in 8 electronic databases from April to May 2016 and updated in September 2016. Studies that assessed imaging techniques to detect peri-implant bone defects were analyzed. Results. The search yielded 680 articles published from 1991 to 2016. Of these, 12 studies were considered eligible for this review. The selected studies evaluated the use of cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), intraoral radiography (IR), computed tomography, and panoramic radiography. The sensitivity for CBCT was 59%, whereas the specificity was 67%. For IR, the sensitivity was 60%, and the specificity was 59%. Area under the curve values in receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis were 69% for CBCT and 63% for IR. For CBCT, the highest value for positive predictive value was 0.94, negative predictive value was 0.98, positive likelihood ratio was 21.3, and negative likelihood ratio was 1.28. For IR, the highest positive predictive value was 1.0, negative predictive value 1.0, positive likelihood ratio 50.0, and negative likelihood ratio 0.70. The highest diagnostic odds ratio was 80 for CBCT and 4.45 for IR. No conclusion could be drawn for additional techniques. Conclusions. Both CBCT and IR showed a clinically acceptable performance for assessing peri-implant bone defects.