Aim: The objective of this study was to provide a systematic review of randomized controlled and/or comparative clinical trials published in the international peer-reviewed literature in the English language, up to and including July 2007, concerning the efficacy of all treatment modalities implemented for the therapy of peri-implantitis.
Material and methods: PubMed and The Cochrane Library databases were searched electronically and numerous journals were examined manually. In the first phase of selection, the titles and abstracts, and in the second phase, complete papers were screened independently and in duplicate by three reviewers (S. K., I. K. K. and M. T.).
Results: The search yielded 1304 possibly relevant titles and abstracts. After the first phase of selection, 13 publications were singled out for a rigorous evaluation. Following the second phase, five studies were selected.
Conclusions: The selected studies are too limited in number and exhibit small sample sizes and short follow-up periods. Therefore, there is a definite need for more well-designed, preferably longitudinal, randomized controlled clinical trials. Within the limitations of the selected studies, mechanical debridement combined with antiseptic/antibiotic therapy, the Er:YAG laser or regenerative techniques may be used for treating peri-implantitis, but the indications for each of these techniques have not been delineated clearly.