Adverse Effects of Implants in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Objective: To determine the evidence on the adverse effects of placing dental implants in healthy growing children. Study design: A systematic search was conducted in five electronic databases: PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane, EBSCO host, ProQuest. Studies on implants placed in children below the age of 19 years, with loss of tooth either due to trauma or caries were included, whereas, studies on mini implants and implants placed due to congenital absence of teeth were excluded. The articles that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were analyzed based on the predetermined criteria of success. Results: A total of 8 publications fulfilled the inclusion criteria. All the included articles were case reports/series, involving a total of 16 implants (15 maxillary, one mandibular) in 11 adolescents (7 boys and 4 girls). The age of implant placement ranged between ten to 17 years with a mean age of 13.4 years and the follow up period, 4.5 months to 13 years. Pain, paresthesia, mobility or peri-implant radiolucency was not reported in any case report, indicating good integration. Radiographic crestal bone loss, probing depth and implant esthetics were not mentioned. The infraocclusion was not reported in 5 cases (age: 11–17 years, follow up: 4.5 months-two years), however, it was an adverse effect in 6 cases (age: ten-17 years, follow up: three-13 years). Conclusion: There is insufficient evidence to contradict the placement of dental implants in healthy growing children; the only reported adverse event is infraocclusion, the management of which too is discussed. However, as all the data is from case reports, the result should be interpreted with caution. Therefore, well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to address this gap in the literature.

Dental Trauma Management in a Young Teenager through Endodontics and Implantology: A Case Report

“…A conventional implant could be placed in patients in growth stage in the case of absence of one or more teeth because of congenital disorder, in the case of alveolar cleft, and in the case of trauma [ 12 , 13 , 21 ]. In this case, the available bone volume is low because of vertical and horizontal resorption of bone: bone graft and periodontal arrangements will be necessary.…”

“…There is no age recommendations for bone graft, or for the number and the position of implant required [ 13 ]. There is also a risk of infra-occlusion of conventional implant due to the vertical growth of anterior maxilla that is influenced, up to 18 years old, by vertical growth [ 12 , 13 ]. For these reasons, conventional diameter implants were contraindicated and the placement of the OBI ® implant was chosen as a second delaying procedure.…”

“…In the event of failure to manage the trauma in the short or medium term, the functional or aesthetic consequences can be significant, especially in the adolescence period. The implant is the solution of choice to compensate for edentulism in adults [ 10 , 11 ]; however, it is more controversial in adolescents, even if the use of implantology is increasingly recommended in very specific cases, traumatic or otherwise [ 12 , 13 ]. Thus, managing complications or failure will depend on the age of the patient, the type of teeth involved (deciduous or permanent teeth) and the extent of the lesions [ 14 ].…”

Multidisciplinary Treatment of Mesiodens Causing Delayed Tooth Eruption and Follow-Up: Report of Two Cases

“…[14] The mini implant's major disadvantage is the possibility of damage to the underlying permanent tooth germ or root. [15] The bracket system was not preferred because the patients were in the mixed dentition period.…”

The risk for infraposition of dental implants and ankylosed teeth in the anterior maxilla related to craniofacial growth, a systematic review

“…Title and abstract screening yielded 25 potential publications gathered for full-text inspection and inclusion for further analysis. Primary studies that were regarded as nonrelevant to the current systematic review were excluded at this stage and the reason for exclusion was recorded (Table 3) [27,28,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”