Adjunctive photochemical therapy for management of inflammatory peri-implant diseases: A systematic review and...

This study aimed to systematically review the data on interventions involving adjunctive photochemical therapy in treating peri-implant mucositis (PIM) and peri-implantitis (PI). The electronic search was conducted through six databases in October 2023, seeking studies relying on any kind of adjunctive photochemical therapy in treating inflammatory peri-implant diseases (PIDs). To showcase the effect size, mean differences along with 95% confidence intervals were utilized. Forty-seven studies were deemed eligible for qualitative synthesis, 14 of which were included in the meta-analysis. Low-level light therapy and photodynamic therapy led to enhanced improvements in clinical and radiographic indices, such as bone level (BL), bleeding on probing (BoP), clinical attachment level (CAL), and probing depth (PD), during the 3-month follow-up. However, the differences in efficacy between treatments incorporating adjunctive photochemical therapy and those relying solely on mechanical debridement, considered the gold standard, lessened over extended follow-up periods of 6, 9, and 12 months. Significant differences were observed when comparing the treatment outcomes following adjunctive photochemical therapy between obese and smoker patients with healthy subjects. Incorporating adjunctive photochemical therapy for PID treatment might improve clinical and radiographic parameters in a short-term follow-up of 3 months, but longer-term benefits appear comparable to routine treatments.