Trabeculae microstructure parameters serve as effective predictors for marginal bone loss of dental implant in the mandible

Marginal bone loss (MBL) is one of the leading causes of dental implant failure. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility of machine learning (ML) algorithms based on trabeculae microstructure parameters to predict the occurrence of severe MBL. Eighty-one patients (41 severe MBL cases and 40 normal controls) were involved in the current study. Four ML models, including support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural network (ANN), logistic regression (LR), and random forest (RF), were employed to predict severe MBL. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were used to evaluate the performance of these models. At the early stage of functional loading, severe MBL cases showed a significant increase of structure model index and trabecular pattern factor in peri-implant alveolar bone. The SVM model exhibited the best outcome in predicting MBL (AUC = 0.967, sensitivity = 91.67%, specificity=100.00%), followed by ANN (AUC = 0.928, sensitivity = 91.67%, specificity=93.33%), LR (AUC = 0.906, sensitivity = 91.67%, specificity = 93.33%), RF (AUC = 0.842, sensitivity = 75.00%, specificity = 86.67%). Together, ML algorithms based on the morphological variation of trabecular bone can be used to predict severe MBL.