A 5‐year prospective randomized clinical trial on the influence of splinted and unsplinted oral implants retaining a mandibular overdenture: prosthetic aspects and patient satisfaction

Abstract

Prosthetic outcome and patient satisfaction were evaluated in order to investigate whether there is a need or advantage to splint two implants in the mandible retaining a hinging overdenture. This study included 36 fully edentulous patients randomly divided into three groups according to the attachment system they received: magnets, ball attachments or straight bars (reference group). None of the implants failed during the whole observation period in any of the groups. After 5 years of observation, the Bar group presented the highest retention capacity and the least prosthetic complications but revealed more mucositis and gingival hyperplasia. Patient satisfaction rated similar for all groups although the Magnet group showed lower retention forces. All patients would repeat the same treatment even though the majority of the Magnet group would prefer a more retentive solution because of limited denture stability.

Stress analysis of mandibular two-implant overdenture with different attachment systems

“…This is in agreement with other studies [28][29][30][31] . All attachment systems showed significantly lower retentive forces during anterior and posterior dislodgement compared to those during vertical dislodgement.…”

Effect of Interimplant Distance and Cyclic Loading on the Retention of Overdenture Attachments

“…12 Bar attachments are included in splinted systems, whereas unsplinted systems include magnets, ball types, and locators. 13 Some authors advocate the use of bar-type overdentures; 14 however, these attachments are more expensive, more complex, and require more restorative space than unsplinted attachments. 15,16 In patients with a decreased vertical dimension, the freestanding attachment systems are used and are beneficial in terms of initial treatment cost, hygiene, and simplicity of manufacture.…”

Comparison of patient′s satisfaction with implant-supported mandibular overdentures and complete dentures

“…Therefore, overdentures retained or supported by implants have been adopted. [5][6][7][8] In general, implant-retained or -supported overdentures can be applied by placing as few as one or up to several implants and then using attachments to provide retention for the denture. [6,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14] Normally, the critical concerns for most denture-wearing patients relate to appearance, speech, occlusion, and mastication functions.…”

“…[5][6][7][8] In general, implant-retained or -supported overdentures can be applied by placing as few as one or up to several implants and then using attachments to provide retention for the denture. [6,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14] Normally, the critical concerns for most denture-wearing patients relate to appearance, speech, occlusion, and mastication functions. [3,8,15,16] It is common for clinicians to use intraoral condition, such as gingival and periodontal health, and prosthesis condition to evaluate the treatment outcome.…”