Profiling the Bacterial Microbiome Across Peri‐Implant Conditions

ABSTRACT Aim To comprehensively characterise the bacterial microbiome in peri‐implant health, peri‐implant mucositis and peri‐implantitis. Materials and Methods A re‐analysis of raw microbiome data was performed from 15 studies, which were finally selected based on the availability of 16S rRNA sequencing. Reads were pre‐processed using mothur and classified using the HOMD database. A total of 522 samples were analysed to evaluate diversity estimates and bacterial relative abundance, identifying discriminant features via LEfSe, while predictions of functional potential were obtained using PICRUSt2. Bacterial co‐occurrence networks were constructed, and dysbiosis was measured by employing the subgingival microbiome dysbiosis index. Results Peri‐implantitis showed higher bacterial diversity compared to health and greater microbial richness than peri‐mucositis. Each clinical condition displayed a distinct community structure and bacterial co‐occurrence networks. The representative species in peri‐implant health were Rothia aeria , R. dentocariosa and Veillonella parvula_dispar . Peri‐mucositis is characterised by Leptotrichia hongkongensis , L. wadei and Fusobacterium nucleatum subsp. polymorphum , while peri‐implantitis is defined by Porphyromonas gingivalis , F. nucleatum subsp. vincentii and Tannerella forsythia . Peri‐implantitis exhibited enrichment in predicted microbial pathogenesis pathways and greater bacterial dysbiosis. Conclusions These results provide deeper insights into the peri‐implant microbiome, identifying key bacterial species, functional processes and interactions that may be crucial to inflammation and destruction during peri‐implant diseases.