Patient satisfaction and prosthetic aspects with mini implants retained mandibular overdentures. A 5 year prospective study.
PURPOSE This study aimed to evaluate patient satisfaction and prosthetic aspects during a 5 year prospective clinical study of mini dental implants (MDIs) retaining mandibular overdentures. MATERIALS AND METHODS This observational prospective clinical study was conducted on a group of completely edentulous patients (n 28) with retention problems of conventional mandibular dentures. All patients received new maxillary and mandibular conventional dentures. A total of 112 MDIs (four per patient) were inserted using the flapless surgical approach and immediately loaded by the new mandibular dentures (overdentures) Patients indicated satisfaction with their prosthesis using a questionnaire and a visual analogue scale (VAS) Patient satisfaction and prosthetic complications were recorded 6 months (T6 m 1 (T1) 3 (T3) and 5 (T5) years after overdenture insertion. RESULTS The patient satisfaction with eating (hard/soft) food (P 0.001) talking (P 0.001) appearance (P 0.001) comfort (P 0.001) healing process (P 0.013) socialization (P 0.001) stability/retention of mandibular dentures (P 0.001) ease of oral hygiene (P 0.008) and ease of handling the dentures (P 0.001) increased significantly with time. After 5 years, the most common complication was wear/damage of O/rings (n 235) O/ring replacement (n 125) maxillary denture relining times (n 13) worn teeth (n 10) overdentures relines (n 10) detachment of the metal housings (n 9) and fracture of mandibular overdentures (n 8) Mucositis, soreness, and decubitis ulcer under overdenture occurred most often at T6 m and decreased significantly with time (P 0.002, 0.005, and 0.024, respectively) CONCLUSION Within the limitations of this clinical study, patient satisfaction with mini implant retained mandibular overdentures increased significantly with time. However, this treatment required a considerable amount of prosthetic maintenance and repair after 5 years of service.
Clinical oral implants research