Aim: To determine the survival trend of dental implants after functional loading for ≥1 year in diabetic patients.
Material and methods: An electronic search of the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register, Medline and Embase, plus a manual search up to December 2015 was performed. Studies assessing the survival rate of dental implants in patients with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus were considered eligible. Screening of studies, quality assessment, and data extraction were conducted independently by 2 reviewers. Life-table analysis and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were used to evaluate implant survival and to plot the cumulative survival rate and cumulative hazard ratio.
Results: Seven studies, including 1142 implants were identified. The cumulative survival rate was 0.96 ± 0.10 before loading, 0.93 ± 0.10 and 0.91 ± 0.10 at 1 year, and at the end of the follow-up period, respectively. The hazard ratio was 4% during the period of osseointegration, 3% during the first year of loading, and remained constant over the 6-year follow-up.
Conclusions: Patients with diabetes mellitus showed an increasing trend of implant failure during the period of osseointegration and the first year of loading.