Effect of laser-microtexturing on bone and soft tissue attachments to dental implants: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background. It is critical to understand laser-microtextured implant collars’ influence on peri-implant pocket depths and marginal bone levels, especially in crucial areas. The present review investigated the peri-implant marginal bone loss (MBL) and pocket depths and failure rates of dental implants with laser-microtextured collars.

Methods. An electronic search was run in the PubMed and Embase databases until September 15, 2019. Randomized and prospective clinical studies comparing peri-implant MBL and pocket depths and failure rates between implants with laser-microtextured and machined collar surfaces were included. Five studies (two cohort studies and three RCTs) were included in the meta-analysis after the inclusion and exclusion criteria and qualitative assessments were applied. The risk ratio of osseointegrated implant failure and mean differences in peri-implant MBL and pocket depths were calculated using the Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software.

Results. Implants with laser-microtextured collars exhibited significantly better marginal bone level scores (P<0.001; MD: 0.54; 95% CI: 0.489‒0.592) and a significant reduction in peri-implant probing depths than implants with machined collars (P<0.001; MD: 1.01; 95% CI: 0.90‒1.13). The assessed studies showed that 17 out of 516 implants failed (3.29%), comprising nine implants with machined (3.62%) and eight implants with laser-microtextured collars (2.98%). However, no significant differences were detected in the implant neck surface characterization (P=0.695; RR: 1.205; 95% CI: 0.472‒3.076).

Conclusion. This study suggests that laser-microtexturing of implant collar significantly affected the peri-implant MBL and probing depths. Although no significant differences were noted in implant failure rates between implants with laser-microtextured and machined collar surfaces, the peri-implant MBL and probing depths with laser-microtextured collars were significantly lower than the machined collars.