Evaluation of implants in smoking and non-smoking patients with peri-implant disease risk analysis and esthetic scores: an observational study

BACKGROUND: This study examined how smoking affects esthetics, peri-implant health, gingiva around the implant, and implant disease risk assessment in patients with implants. METHODS: The study included two hundred ninety-eight implants of systemically healthy patients aged between 38 and 62 who applied to the Periodontology Clinic and whose functionally prosthesis-loaded implants had been at least six months and at most five years old. Implants of patients with bruxism were not included in the study. Implants are divided into two according to the patient’s smoking. Vestibule depth around the implant, keratinized gingival thickness and width, gingival recession, bleeding on probing, pocket depth, and gingival index by a sole clinician. The pink esthetic score, peri-implant disease risk assessment, and implant health scale were also examined to measure implant esthetics and success. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in the implant disease risk assesment scores for the examined implants of smokers and nonsmokers (p < 0.05). People who had peri-implantitis had higher implant disease risk assesment score levels. The dental implant health scale revealed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the likelihood of implant disease. According to the dental implant health scale, dental implants were 100% successful for non-smokers. There was a significant difference in the keratinized gingiva width between smokers and nonsmokers (p < 0.05). The results of the study showed that nonsmokers had a wider keratinized gingiva. CONCLUSIONS: Research has demonstrated that the act of smoking has the potential to jeopardize the long-term survival of dental implants and the surrounding peri-implant tissues. The results of this study indicate that it would be advisable for dentists to provide guidance to their patients on smoking cessation and to monitor any alterations in behavior closely. Furthermore, it would be advantageous for dental professionals to elucidate the impact of smoking on the susceptibility of smokers to peri-implant disease.