Vitamin D Levels, Periodontal Parameters, and VDR Gene Polymorphism in Dental Implant Osseointegration Outcomes: A Case-Control Study in Egyptians

Failure of dental implants due to inadequate osseointegration continues to pose a major clinical issue, with increasing evidence suggesting that systemic and genetic factors play a role in the outcomes. It is proposed that vitamin D deficiency and genetic variations, such as those in the vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene, may affect bone metabolism and the success of implants. This case-control study aimed to evaluate the association of serum vitamin D levels and VDR gene polymorphism (SNP rs228570) with dental implant osseointegration success or failure.

A case-control study with 42 cases of implant failure and 42 controls with successful osseointegration was conducted in patients aged 31–60 years. Sociodemographic, clinical, and periodontal parameters were analyzed, and VDR SNP rs228570 was genotyped using real-time PCR, and serum vitamin D, TNF, and IL-6 levels were measured. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS v28.0, with univariate and multivariable logistic regression with significance (p < 0.05).

No significant association was found between VDR gene polymorphism (SNP rs228570) and implant failure (p > 0.05). However, there is a significant association between higher vitamin D levels and successful osseointegration. Vitamin D levels were significantly higher in the successful group (36.85 ng/ml ± 11.55) compared to the failed group (17.03 ng/ml ± 9.16) (p < 0.001). Clinical parameters revealed significant differences, with the successful group showing lower bleeding on probing (BOP) at 25.15% (SD ± 5.31) compared to 42.46% (SD ± 7.59) in the failed group (p < 0.001) and a shallower probing depth of 2.21 mm (SD ± 0.85) compared to 5.62 mm (SD ± 1.32) in the failed group (p < 0.001). Biochemical markers such as TNF and IL-6 did not show significant differences between the groups, P-value = 0.181 and 0.186, respectively.

The study highlights the importance of vitamin D levels and clinical parameters such as BOP and PD in predicting osseointegration outcomes. Although VDR gene polymorphism showed no significant association with implant failure, higher vitamin D levels were positively correlated with successful osseointegration. These findings suggest that optimizing vitamin D levels and managing peri-implant health may improve dental implant success rates, emphasizing clinical over genetic predictors.