Masticatory Performance and Impact on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients Treated with Immediately Loaded Implant-Supported Prostheses

Purpose: To compare oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) and masticatory performance (MP) in patients treated with a mandibular complete denture (CD) and immediately loaded implant-supported prostheses (ISP). Materials and Methods: Forty patients were divided into CD and ISP groups. Initially, all patients were treated with a mandibular CD. Then, 23 patients remained with a CD while 17 were treated with an ISP after wearing the CD for 3 months. OHRQoL was measured using the OHIP-EDENT questionnaire, and MP was evaluated by sieving. Data were recorded before treatment (T-0) and after 3 months wearing the CD and ISP (T-1). Results: CD treatment did not affect OHRQoL and MP; however, patients treated with an ISP presented improvement in OHRQoL (P < .001) and MP (P < .001) with a high effect size (ES) (Cohen's d = 2.49 and 2.47, respectively). For intergroup analysis, ISP treatment presented improvement in OHRQoL and MP compared to CD treatment (P < .001) at T-1 with a high ES (Cohen's d = 1.80 and 3.29, respectively). The correlation between MP and OHRQoL was positive only for psychologic discomfort in the CD group at T-0 (P= .035), suggesting that poor MP increased psychologic discomfort. Conclusion: Converting a CD into an ISP had a positive impact on OHRQoL and MP with high ES.