Mental Health

Dental Implant Failure Linked to Antidepressants

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Sep 03, 2014 04:36 PM EDT

The most widely used antidepressants can increase the risk of dental implant failure, according to new research.

Previous studies also reveal that Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, the most commonly used drug to treat depression, can reduce bone formation and increase the risk of bone fracture.

The latest study, which involved data from patients treated with dental implants from January 2007 to January 2013, involved a total of 916 dental implants in 490 patients. Researchers linked 94 implants and 51 patients to SSRIs.

Researchers monitored patients for 67 months. During this time, 38 dental implants failed and 784 succeeded in the group that wasn't on SSRIs while 10 failed and 84 succeeded in the group on SSRIs.

Researchers said the findings suggest that the use of SSRIs significantly increases the risk of dental implants failure. The study revealed failure rates of 4.6 percent in people who weren't on SSRIs and 10.6 percent in those who were on SSRIs.

Other factors that increased the risk of dental implant failures involved small implant diameters, bone augmentation and smoking habits, according to the study.

The study titled "SSRIs and the Risk of Osseointegrated Implant Failure - A Cohort Study," was published online in the Journal of Dental Research (JDR).

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