Promising applications of electromagnetic field therapy in dental implantology: A systematic review

TL;DR

This review explores how electromagnetic field therapy can improve dental implant outcomes by enhancing bone growth and reducing post-surgery pain.

Contribution

The paper systematically reviews the efficacy of non-ionizing electromagnetic field therapy as an adjunct in dental implantology.

Findings

EMF exposure improves implant stability, osteogenesis, and osseointegration in preclinical and clinical studies.

EMF can accelerate bone repair and increase bone volume fraction and trabecular thickness.

Some studies suggest EMF reduces analgesic use after dental implant surgery.

Abstract

Non-ionizing electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure therapies are non-invasive and safe treatment options that can potentially change available treatments. In this review, we examined the applications of such therapies in dental implant surgery by conducting a systematic review.

A comprehensive search of several international electronic databases was conducted from inception to December 14, 2022. This review included interventional studies that evaluated the advantages of adjunctive magnetic or combined EMFs on dental implants compared to conventional treatments.

From a total of 1695 studies, 12 preclinical and clinical studies were selected, discussing EMF-based treatments for enhancing implant stability, osteogenesis, and osseointegration, as well as alleviating post-implant surgery manifestations. Almost all studies on maxillary and mandibular implant stability showed beneficial effects of non-ionizing EMF in humans. Most studies evaluating osteogenesis and osseointegration indicated that EMF exposure could accelerate bone repair and peri-implant bone formation and increase bone contact ratios, bone volume fraction (bone volume/total volume), trabecular number, and trabecular thickness. Only two clinical studies examined the effect of EMF on pain and swelling after dental implant surgery, with one finding that subjects exposed to EMF used analgesics fewer times and in far lower doses than the control group and the other finding no significant difference in reducing these outcomes between the groups.

Overall, devices that deliver non-ionizing low-level EMF can be a viable and widely recognized non-invasive adjuvant therapy for attaining success and better outcomes after dental implant surgery due to their efficacy, safety, and short exposure time.

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