Clinical outcomes of dental implants in head and neck cancer patients: An overview (vol 136, pg 42, 2023)

Purpose To evaluate the clinical outcomes of dental implants (DIs) in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients treated with radiotherapy (RT), isolated chemotherapy or bone modifying agents (BMAs) Methods This study was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42018102772), conducted via the PRISMA checklist, and based on PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and gray literature searches. The selection of studies was performed in two phases by two independent reviewers. The risk of bias (RoB) was assessed by the Measurement Tool to Assess the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2) Results Twenty systematic reviews were included in the qualitative analysis. The majority scored as having high RoB (n=11). Primary DIs placement in the mandible of HNC patients subjected to RT doses <50 Gy was associated with better survival rates Conclusions DIs placement could be considered safe in HNC patients in sites of alveolar bone that received RT (≤5,000 Gy); however, no conclusions could be made in cancer patients managed by chemotherapy or BMAs. Due to the heterogeneity of studies included, the recommendation for DIs placement in cancer patients should be carefully considered. Future better controlled randomized clinical trials are required to provide enhanced clinical guidelines for best patient care.