Patient satisfaction and prosthetic aspects with mini-implants retained mandibular overdentures. A 5-year prospective study

PurposeThis 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 methodsThis 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 6months (T-6m), 1 (T1), 3 (T3), and 5 (T5) years after overdenture insertion. ResultsThe 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 5years, 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 T-6m and decreased significantly with time (P=0.002, 0.005, and 0.024, respectively). ConclusionWithin 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 5years of service.