Antidepressant drug linked to dental implant failure

The International and American Associations for Dental Research (IADR/AADR) have released a study examining the correlation between dental implant failure and the use of a widely prescribed antidepressant drug.

The study, entitiled “SSRIs and the Risk of Osseointegrated Implant Failure – A Cohort Study” fouSSnd that the use of selective Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) increased the risk of failures in osseointegrated inplants. SSRIs, one of the most widely used drugs for the treatment of depression, have reportedly reduced bone formation and resulted in increased risk of bone fracture. Since osseeointegration is influenced by bone metabolism, researches felt the need to investigate the potential impact SSRIs could have on dental implants – and found that there was indeed a correlation.

The study examined 490 patients  (with a total of 916 dental implants) who were treated with dental implants between January 2007 and January 2013, 51 of which were using SSRIs. Out of the 94 implants on these 51 SSRI users, 10 implants failed, as opposed to 38 dental implants out of the group of 784 nonusers. In the end, the failure rates for SSRI non-users came to 4.6%, while SSRI users had a failure rate of 10.6%.  The study concluded that treatment with SSRIs was associated with an increased risk of failure in osseointegrated implants.

This story is based on materials provided by the International & American Associations for Dental Research. The full study was published in the Journal of Dental Research 2014.