Short-term follow-up of masticatory adaptation after rehabilitation with an immediately loaded implant-supported prosthesis: a pilot assessment

Abstract

BackgroundWhen teeth are extracted, sensory function is decreased by a loss of periodontal ligament receptions. When replacing teeth by oral implants, one hopes to restore the sensory feedback pathway as such to allow for physiological implant integration and optimized oral function with implant-supported prostheses. What remains to be investigated is how to adapt to different oral rehabilitations.The purpose of this pilot study was to assess four aspects of masticatory adaptation after rehabilitation with an immediately loaded implant-supported prosthesis and to observe how each aspect will recover respectively.MethodsEight participants with complete dentures were enrolled. They received an implant-supported acrylic resin provisional bridge, 1 day after implant surgery. Masticatory adaptation was examined by assessing occlusal contact, approximate maximum bite force, masticatory efficiency of gum-like specimens, and food hardness perception.ResultsOcclusal contact and approximate maximum bite force were significantly increased 3 months after implant rehabilitation, with the bite force gradually building up to a 72% increase compared to baseline. Masticatory efficiency increased by 46% immediately after surgery, stabilizing at around 40% 3 months after implant rehabilitation. Hardness perception also improved, with a reduction of the error rate by 16% over time.ConclusionsThis assessment demonstrated masticatory adaptation immediately after implant rehabilitation with improvements noted up to 3 months after surgery and rehabilitation. It was also observed that, despite gradually improved bite force in all patients, masticatory efficiency and food hardness perception did not necessarily follow this tendency. The findings in this pilot may also be used to assess adaptation of oral function after implant rehabilitation by studying the combined outcome of four tests (occlusal contact, maximum bite force, masticatory efficiency, and food hardness perception).

The relationship between masticatory performance and intakes of foods and nutrients in Japanese male workers: A cross‐sectional study

“…They chewed the jelly with only one side habitually used for chewing in their usual oral condition of eating meals (with denture attachment in participants using denture). The glucose concentration (mg/dL) in the filtrated cup was measured using a Glucose Sensor Set (GLUCO SENSOR GS‐II, GC Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) 22‐24 . This test was performed by one trained examiner.…”

“…The gummy‐jelly test is currently conducted only in Japan. However, its results are significantly correlated with those of the sieve method, and it is simple and enables objective numerical evaluation 22‐24 . Therefore, it has been employed for measurement in many studies.…”

Reference value of masticatory performance by measuring the amount of glucose extraction from chewing gummy jelly

“…The sieve method has long been used to measure MP; however, this method has significant limitations, in that the operation is complicated, and the analysis is lengthy. Therefore, many methods using impression material [1], color-changing gum [2,3], paraffin wax [4], fuchsin beads [5], and gummy jelly [2,3,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] have been reported. Of these, measuring the amount of glucose extraction (AGE) from chewing gummy jelly was the most advantageous.…”

“…Assessment of MP by measuring AGE from chewing gummy jelly is performed in healthy dentate adults [6,7,12,16,21], elderly adults [13,14,17,21], removable partial denture patients [2,3,10], re-movable complete denture patients [9,15,19], implant denture patients [10,11], mandibulectomy patients [20], and other groups. In addition, it has also been reported that AGE tends to decrease due to tooth loss [8,14], and increases after treatment [2,11,15] and with growth [18]. However, the reference value of healthy adults, which is important for the evaluation of MP, has not yet been fully clarified.…”

“…It is clear that MP by measuring AGE decreases when teeth are lost [8,14], and improves with dental treatment [2,11,15]. At present, only the values [6,12] of a small number of healthy adults are referred to when evaluating the data [8,16] obtained in MP studies.…”