The exponential growth in the use of dental implants in the last decades has been accompanied by an increase in the prevalence of peri-implant disease. It appears that viruses may have pathogenic potential for the development of this pathology. The objective of this systematic review is to study the possible association between the presence of Epstein-Barr virus and the development of peri-implantitis. An electronic search was conducted in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scielo and Embase databases for cross-sectional and case-control studies in humans published up to and including 4 January 2021. Five studies were included in the qualitative analysis. The meta-analysis did not show a statistically significant difference regarding the prevalence of Epstein-Barr virus in the peri-implant sulcus between implants with peri-implantitis and healthy implants. In conclusion, no association between the human herpesvirus 4 and peri-implantitis was found. Further research on this topic is essential to develop more effective treatments.
Keywords: Epstein–Barr virus; dental implants; human herpesvirus 4; peri-implant disease; peri-implant pathology; peri-implantitis; viruses.