Single and partial tooth replacement with fixed dental prostheses supported by dental implants: A systematic review of outcomes and outcome measures used in clinical trials in the last 10 years

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate outcome measures, methods of assessment, and analysis in clinical studies on fixed single-and multiple-unit implant restorations.Materials and Methods: Three independent electronic database searches (MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane) were done to identify prospective and retrospective clinical studies published from January 2011 up to June 2021 with ≥20 patients and minimum 1-year follow-up period on technical and clinical outcomes of implant-supported single crowns (SCs) and partial fixed dental prostheses (P-FDPs). An entire data extraction was performed to identify primarily the most reported outcome measures and later to define the choice of assessment methods of those outcome measures. The outcomes were analysed descriptively, and the strength of association was evaluated using the Pearson chi-square test (p ≤ .05). Results:In a total 531 studies, 368 on SCs (69.3%), 70 on P-FDPs (13.1%), and 93 on both restoration types (17.5%) were included; 56.3% of all studies did not clearly define a primary outcome. The most frequent primary outcome was marginal bone level (MBL) (55.2%) followed by implant survival (5.3%), professional aesthetic evaluation (3.4%), and technical complications (2.1%). Peri-implant indices were the most reported secondary outcome (55.1%), followed by implant survival (39.9%), MBL (36%), and implant success (26.4%). Prosthetic failure (seven studies [3.9%]) was one of the least reported outcome measures. Conclusions:Outcome measures and their assessment methods showed high heterogeneity among studies. Primary outcomes were not often defined clearly, and the most frequently selected primary outcome was marginal bone loss. Prosthetic outcomes, implant survival, and patient-related outcomes were only infrequently reported.

Relevant domains, core outcome sets and measurements for implant dentistry clinical trials: The Implant Dentistry Core Outcome Set and Measurement (ID‐COSM) international consensus report

“…Five systematic reviews covering the main areas of clinical research in implant dentistry were commissioned to identify the outcomes used in publications from the 10‐year period between 2011 and 2020. The five systematic reviews covered the following topics: (i) single and partial tooth replacement (Sailer et al, 2022), (ii) rehabilitation of full‐arch edentulism (Messias et al, 2022), (iii) prevention and treatment of peri‐implant mucositis and peri‐implantitis (Derks et al, 2023), (iv) soft‐tissue augmentation (STA; Avila‐Ortiz et al, 2023) and (v) bone augmentation (BA) trials (Shi, Montero, et al, 2022). All protocols were registered in PROSPERO.…”

Multi‐stakeholder contribution to the identification of a core outcome set and measurements in implant dentistry (ID‐COSM initiative) using the Delphi methodology

“…All the protocols of the systematic reviews were previously registered in the PROSPERO and followed the PRISMA guidelines (Page et al, 2021). These systematic reviews covered five broad areas of clinical research in implant dentistry: Single and partial tooth replacement with fixed dental prostheses supported by dental implants (Sailer et al, 2022); Rehabilitation of full‐arch edentulism with fixed or removable dentures retained by root form dental implants (Messias et al, 2022); Bone preservation or augmentation simultaneous with or before dental implant placement (Shi et al, 2022); Soft tissue preservation/augmentation (Avila‐Ortiz et al, 2022); Prevention and management of peri‐implant mucositis and peri‐implantitis (Derks et al, 2022). …”

Multi‐stakeholder contribution to the identification of a core outcome set and measurements in implant dentistry (ID‐COSM initiative) using the Delphi methodology

“…• Single and partial tooth replacement with fixed dental prostheses supported by dental implants (Sailer et al, 2023);…”