Interventions for replacing missing teeth: hyperbaric oxygen therapy for irradiated patients who require dental implants.
BACKGROUND
Dental implants offer one way to replace missing teeth and associated tissues. Patients who have undergone radiotherapy and those that have also undergone surgery for cancer may benefit particularly from reconstruction with implants. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) has been advocated to improve the success of implant treatment in patients who have undergone radiotherapy but this remains a controversial issue.


OBJECTIVE
This review aims to compare success, morbidity, patient satisfaction and cost effectiveness of dental implant treatment carried out with and without HBO in irradiated patients.


METHODS
The Cochrane Oral Health Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, MEDLINE and EMBASE were searched. In addition, the bibliographies of review articles were checked for studies outside the handsearched journals and personal references were searched. We also wrote to implant manufacturers and experts in the field.


METHODS
Randomised controlled trials of HBO therapy for irradiated patients requiring dental implants.


METHODS
No randomised trials were identified.


RESULTS
No data were available.


CONCLUSIONS
Clinicians ought to make patients aware of the lack of reliable clinical evidence for or against the clinical effectiveness of HBO in irradiated patients requiring dental implants. There is a definite need for RCTs to ascertain the effectiveness of HBO in irradiated patients requiring dental implants. These trials ought to be of a high quality and reported as recommended by the CONSORT statement (http://www.consort-statement.org/). Each clinical centre may have limited numbers of patients and it is likely that trials will need to be multi-centred.
Coulthard
P
P
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester, UK, M15 6FH. paul.coulthard@man.ac.uk
Esposito
M
M
Worthington
H V
HV
Jokstad
A
A
D015921:Dental Implants; D006801:Humans; D006931:Hyperbaric Oxygenation; D011878:Radiotherapy
D015921:Dental Implants