To review the literature on the prevalence and incidence of peri-implantitis. Out of 322 potentially relevant publications we identified 29 articles concerning 23 studies, with information on the presence of signs of peri-implantitis in populations of at least 20 cases. All studies provided data from convenience samples, typically from patients who were treated in a clinical center during a certain period, and most data were cross-sectional or collected retrospectively. Based on the reviewed papers one may state that the prevalence of peri-implantitis seems to be in the order of 10% implants and 20% patients during 5-10 years after implant placement but the individual reported figures are rather variable, not easily comparable and not suitable for meta-analysis. Factors that should be considered to affect prevalence figures are the disease definition, the differential diagnosis, the chosen thresholds for probing depths and bone loss, differences in treatment methods and aftercare of patients, and dissimilarities in the composition of study populations. Smoking and a history of periodontitis have been associated with a higher prevalence of peri-implantitis. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.