PERI-IMPLANTITIS VERSUS PERIODONTITIS: AN IMPLIED METAPHOR

Abstract

Hard and soft tissues around an osseointegrated dental implant have some similarities with the periodontium of natural teeth. The major difference occurs in collagen fibers, which are parallel to the dental implant surface compared with insertion on the natural teeth, which is perpendicular and functional between bone and cementum. As untreated periodontitis can ultimately lead to loss of natural teeth, peri-implantitis can result in loss of dental implants. Recent studies show that the main causative factor of both tooth loss from Periodontitis and loss of dental implants due to Peri-implantitis is the microbial dental plaque. Another disease that resembles peri-implantitis is mucositis; affecting only the soft tissue component, the occurrence of inflammation at this level is due to plaque accumulation. Peri-implantitis can be considered analogous to periodontitis.