Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of locally applied bisphosphonate drugs on alveolar bone defects caused by periodontitis and marginal bone level after placement of dental implants. Materials and Methods: Three electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and Scopus) were searched from January 2010 until May 2020 for randomized controlled clinical trials reporting the effect of locally delivered bisphosphonates on alveolar bone. The risk of bias was assessed and quantitative synthesis was conducted with both fixed and random-effects meta-analyses by using RevMan version 5.3. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed whenever required. Results: Among the included studies, the effect of locally delivered bisphosphonates on alveolar bone regeneration in periodontitis was measured by 15 studies and on marginal bone level after installation of dental implants by three studies. Bisphosphonates showed significantly higher intrabony defect depth reduction than placebo/control in vertical bone defects treated with non-surgical approach (MD = 1.69mm; 95% CI, 1.32-2.05; P < 0.00001; I²=93%) or surgical approach (MD = 0.70mm; 95% CI, 0.23-1.16; P = 0.003; I² = 78%) and in class II furcation defects treated with non-surgical approach (MD = 1.61mm; 95% CI, 1.15-2.07; P < 0.00001; I² = 99%) or surgical approach (MD = 0.24mm; 95% CI, 0.05-0.42; P = 0.01; I² = 62%). Clinical attachment loss increased by 1.39mm (95% CI, 0.92-1.85; P < 0.01; I²=93%) and 1mm (95% CI, 0.75-1.26; P < 0.001; I² = 0%) in vertical bone defects after non-surgical and surgical treatments, respectively, and by 1.95mm (95% CI, 1.37-2.53; P < 0.00001; I² = 96%) and 0.84mm (95% CI, 0.58-1.10; P < 0.01, I² = 47%) after non-surgical and surgical treatment in class II furcation defects, respectively. Lesser marginal bone loss during pre-loading (MD = -0.18 mm; 95% CI, -0.24- -0.12; P<0.00001; I²=0%) and 1-year post-loading (MD = -0.33 mm; 95% CI, -0.59–0.07; P = 0.01; I² = 0%) periods was observed when bisphosphonate coated dental implants were used. Conclusion: Locally delivered bisphosphonates induce bone regeneration in periodontal defects and decrease the rate of marginal bone loss after dental implant therapy.