Oral Microbiota in Patients with Peri-Implant Disease: A Narrative Review

Peri-implant infections are the most common complications related to the placement of dental implants. There are many microbial similarities between peri-implantitis and periodontitis but due to current laboratory techniques there are just as many differences. This review was performed to assess changes in the oral microbiota at sites with peri-implant disease, according to the state of the art. The peri-implant microbiota presents a lower microbial quality than the periodontal microbiota, becoming increasingly complex as it progresses from peri-implant mucositis to peri-implantitis. The microbial difference detected between the peri-implant and periodontal microbiota is primarily related to whole bacterial populations, rather than specific bacterial taxa. The use of probiotics could support the reduction of peri-implant pockets, in association with mechanical debridement, due to their mechanism of action of competitive inhibition for adhesion sites. The peri-implant microbiota represents a qualitatively inferior but quantitatively superior bacterial ecosystem for some bacterial genera compared to the periodontal microbiota, showing that a progression from healthy state to peri-implantitis causes changes in microbiota composition in the absence of specific disease-causing bacteria. Transcriptomics could provide useful information for the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of peri-implant pathology through knowledge of bacterial virulence factors.