PATIENT SATISFACTION WITH IMPLANT-RETAINED MANDIBULAR OVERDENTURES - A COMPARISON WITH NEW COMPLETE DENTURES NOT RETAINED BY IMPLANTS - A MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED CLINICAL-TRIAL

Objectives-The aim of this study was to establish the treatment outcom e of full denture treatment with or without implant support, in which the outcome assessment focuses on the patient's subjective evaluation ('denture-satisfaction'). Design-A multicenter randomized clinical tri al, Subjects-Thirty-two men and 118 women (mean age 56+/-9, range 35-8 4 years) participated in the study, The mean height of the mandible wa s 13+/-2 mm, measured on a lateral cephalometric radiograph, The patie nts were randomly assigned to either a group treated with implant-reta ined mandibular overdentures and a new maxillary denture, or to a cont rol group treated with a new set of complete dentures, Main outcome me asures-Denture satisfaction was assessed using questionnaires focusing on denture-related complaints and 'a general satisfaction rate'. Resu lts-Based on the baseline data, from the 'denture complaints' question naire six interpretable factors could be extracted, One factor did not vary following treatment and was excluded from the outcome analysis, At the 1-year evaluation three out of five factors showed significantl y better scores for the group treated with implants than for the contr ol-group, The same was found for the general satisfaction rate, Conclu sion-For patients with a severely resorbed mandible, overdentures reta ined by dental implants appear to provide a more satisfactory solution to their denture-related problems.