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Evidence summaries

Hyperbaric Oxygen (Hbo) Therapy for Irradiated Patients Who Require Dental Implants

Hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) therapy for patients who require dental implants after radiotherapy may not offer apparent clinical benefit. Level of evidence: "C"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 1 study. Thirteen patients received HBO therapy while another 13 did not. Two to six implants were placed in people with fully edentulous mandibles to be rehabilitated with bar-retained overdentures. One year after implant loading, four patients had died from each group. One patient, treated with HBO, developed an osteoradionecrosis and lost all implants so the prosthesis could not be provided. Five patients in the HBO group had at least one implant failure versus two in the control group. There were no statistically significant differences for prosthesis and implant failures, postoperative complications and patient satisfaction between the two groups.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by study quality (several issues) and by imprecise results (few patients and wide confidence intervals).

References

Primary/Secondary Keywords