Is Sjogren's syndrome a risk factor/contraindication for dental implants? An umbrella review

There have been concerns that longstanding oral dryness secondary to Sjogren's syndrome may increase the risk of failure of dental implants.

The aim of the present study was to determine the level of methodological quality of systematic reviews that evaluated the effectiveness of dental implants in patients diagnosed with Sjogren's syndrome.

Databases of PubMed/Medline, LILACS, Science Direct and Dare Cochrane to October 2020 were evaluated. A total of 833 articles were initially identified but following use of appropriate inclusion and exclusion criteria 4 papers were identified for detailed analysis. An eventual study sample comprised 722 implants placed in 189 patients with a 95.22% success rate, the minimum follow-up time was 45.2 ± 23.8 months and the maximum 125.5 months. The studies were assessed for their methodological quality by the AMSTAR 2 tool, in which 3 had critically low quality and one low quality.

Oral rehabilitation with dental implants in patients with Sjogren's syndrome seems to have a high success rate; however, the low quality of relevant reports highlights the need for primary and secondary studies with better methodological design in order to reduce bias and provide reassurance for this treatment option.