Do Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy Drugs in the Management of HIV Patients Influence Success of Dental Implants?

HIV infection is a global pandemic that affects CD4 cells in the immune system and leads to lethal opportunistic infections. The advent of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has induced a marked reduction in the viral load and an increase in the CD4 cell count, thereby changing the course of the disease from an acute life-threatening condition to chronic disease. Accordingly, need and demand for oral rehabilitation in HIV positive population have increased in recent years. However, few drugs used in the HAART regimen have also known to be associated with osteopenia and osteoporosis. Although HAART reduces the morbidity in HIV patients, it remains unknown to what extent the therapy influences the implant healing. Few scientific literatures have identified osteoporosis and HIV infection as an unconducive milieu for dental implant placement and survival but demonstrated favorable outcomes in short-term assessments. The long-term impact of bone metabolic effects of HAART on implant success remains a conundrum.