Impact of proton pump inhibitors on periodontal health – A systematic review

Introduction

In recent times, proton pump inhibitors (PPI) are frequently prescribed to manage acid reflux and to aid in completion of course of medication, which cause gastric irritation. Although this practice may minimize compliance to drug therapies and probably prevent development of drug resistance, the adverse effects of chronic PPI use have to be assessed. Inadvertent chronic use of PPIs has been found to inhibit normal gastrointestinal microbiome and even bone metabolism. The current study aimed to review available evidence based literature to understand the beneficial effects of PPIs weighed against their adversities with respect to periodontal and peri-implant health.

Materials and Methods

The search strategy was followed according to the PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews. Proton pump inhibitors, periodontal disease, dental implant (DI) and bone osseointegration were used as key MESH terms to search and select the required articles for review. While primary inclusion criteria were original researches, published in English, between 2014 to till-date, case reports, reviews and editorial communications were excluded.

Results

The overall search strategy resulted in 445 articles. Applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria 37 articles were selected. Scrutinizing the abstracts for relevance, 17 publications were finally selected for review. This included three in vivo animal studies evaluating DI osseointegration and 14 retrospective clinical studies (nine in patients with dental implants, four in patients with periodontitis and one evaluating bone quality using panoramic radiographs).

Conclusion

Findings from this systematic review revealed a plausible relationship between chronic PPI use and poor peri-implant bone health leading to early DI failure, and mandibular osteoporotic changes. On the contrary, use of PPI among patients with periodontitis, resulted in an improvement in periodontal health and reduction in periodontal disease severity.