Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Postbiotic in Home Care Maintenance in Patients Affected by Peri-Implant Mucositis

Peri-implant mucositis is an inflammatory condition that affects the peri-implant mucosa, without bone involvement. Peri-implant mucositis can include erythema, swelling, and bleeding, and the mucosa can be painful even with the traditional oral hygiene procedures. Peri-implant mucositis is always a reversible condition but, if left untreated, it can degenerate into peri-implantitis. Although biofilm control is considered the gold-standard therapy, some adjunctive therapies can be employed. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of postbiotics in peri-implant mucositis management. Forty patients in good systemic health with at least one implant diagnosed with peri-implant mucositis were enrolled in this case–control study. The control group received professional biofilm removal and home care instructions, while the test group was also asked to use a postbiotic gel. Clinical indices of inflammation, such as probing pocket depth (PPD), plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BoP), erythema, pain, suppuration and swelling, were collected at four timepoints during observation and analyzed at both the patient and site levels. After one year, clinical indices statistically significantly improved in both groups compared to baseline. The test group showed greater reductions. PPD was statistically significantly lower at the site level in the test group than in the control group. The results of this study confirm that biofilm control is an effective therapy for peri-implant mucositis. Our findings showed that postbiotics used as an adjunctive in home therapy have been effective in managing clinical indices in patients with peri-implant mucositis.