Glycation and oxidative stress in the failure of dental implants: a case series

BACKGROUND: The aim of this case series/control study is to investigate the presence of the Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs) and oxidative stress in periimplantitis. The study group was composed of five dental implants, failed within 6 months after implantation, taken from 5 subjects (3 M/2 F) aged between 43–57 years and stored in isotonic liquid before freezing at -80°C, according to literature. All the implants had been placed using traditional submerged technique. The whole saliva was also collected using Salimetrics device and stored at -80°C, to assess molecular analysis. Two age-matched control groups were examined: they consisted of 5 subjects encountering dental extraction for chronic periodontal disease (2 M/3 F) and 5 healthy subjects (3 M/2 F) who needed extraction for dental trauma. Their whole saliva was collected with the same method. The implants and the tooth of control groups were processed to assess Western Blotting for identification of AGEs. The case/control whole saliva was used to perform ThioBarbituric Acid Reactive Substances (TBARS) for oxidative stress evaluation. FINDINGS: The Western Blotting analysis on periimplantitis and periodontal disease tissues showed marked increase of AGEs when compared to healthy control tissues. Also TBARS assay of whole saliva confirmed the expectations, showing higher oxidative stress levels in periimplantitis and periodontitis groups than in healthy group. CONCLUSIONS: With the limitation of the sample size, these results showed that oxidative stress could be involved in the aetiology of periimplantitis. This hypothesis could lead to new therapeutic strategies in periimplantitis, using antioxidant approach in addition to conventional treatments.