Mandibular Bone Resorption Following Chin Augmentation: A Systematic Review

BACKGROUND: Chin implants have a long history, and its usage may be associated with mandibular bone resorption. OBJECTIVES: This report analyzed data on this topic from existing literature to evaluate the overall resorption rate and scientific impact in terms of citations. METHOD: PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases were searched to identify relevant publications. The search string was as follows: (chin) AND (augment(*) OR implant(*)) AND (resorb(*) OR resorp(*)) AND (bone OR osseous). A study was eligible if it recruited human subjects and reported resorption following any chin implantation based on radiographic examination. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patient studies were identified. Publication year seemed to have no effect on the mean depth of bone resorption and its prevalence as reported by the studies. The increased mean number of follow-up years seemed to have no effect on its prevalence but seem to be associated with deeper bone resorption. The majority of the studies had <5 years of follow-up and reported a mean of <2 mm of bone resorption. The most cited study had 69 citations. Citations rarely came from radiology journals. A limitation was that unpublished data could not be analyzed. CONCLUSIONS: Mandibular bone resorption caused by chin implants of various materials is a common phenomenon. Its recognition and studies with a longer follow-up period should be further promoted.