Systematic review on the association between genetic polymorphisms and dental implant-related biological complications

Objectives The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the association between specific genetic polymorphisms and dental implant-related biological complications in patients having a follow-up period of at least 12-months post-loading. Material and methods A sensitive search strategy was developed to identify implant-related genetic-association studies. This was performed by searching five databases. A three-stage screening (titles, abstract, full text) was carried out in duplicate and independently by two reviewers. Assessment was carried out according to the suggested scale for quality assessment of periodontal genetic-association studies and adapted to genetic analyses of implant-related studies leading to an overall final score 0-20 based on the summation of positive answers. Results The initial search resulted in 1838 articles. Sixty-seven full-text articles were assessed for eligibility and four studies met the defined inclusion criteria. IL-6 G174C, TNF-alpha -308, IL-1A-889 and IL-1B+3954 and CD14-159 C/T polymorphisms were evaluated. The quality assessment scores ranged from 6 to 11 positive answers from out of a maximum score of 20. The great heterogeneity among the studies did not allow a meta-analysis. Conclusions The published evidence on genetic predisposition and implant biologic complications is limited. The small number of identified studies evaluating the association between genetic polymorphisms and peri-implant disease presented methodological and reporting inadequacies. Thus, the potential link between genetic polymorphisms and biological complications should be further investigated and clarified through well-designed clinical studies on adequately powered and appropriately included study populations.