IMPLANT-SUPPORTED OVERDENTURE THERAPY - A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY

All patients (n = 46) treated with implant-supported overdentures at t he Department of Prosthetic Dentistry, Dental and Medical Health Centr e, Halmstad, Sweden, from 1986 to 1993 were studied. The clinical exam ination was completed in 1994. The material was divided into two subgr oups: Group A had been initially treatment: planned for an implant-sup ported overdenture, and Group 8 had been planned for fixed prostheses but because of loss of implants before loading, treatment with a fixed prosthesis was not possible. The authors present their experience and patient reactions to overdenture therapy in two defined groups of pat ients. The implant failure rate before loading for Group A (n = 12) wa s 15% (six implants out of 39), and the rate before loading for Group B (n = 29) was 43.6% (68 implants out of 156). After prosthodontic tre atment in Group A, the implant success rate after loading was 87.9%, a nd the overdenture stability was 84.6%. In group B, 17 implants placed in the maxillae were lost after overdenture therapy, which resulted i n an implant success rate of 79.3%. A total of eight overdentures, all of which had been placed in the maxillae, were lost, resulting in an overdenture stability of 73.3%. In this study ''change of retentive cl ips'' was the predominant prosthodontic complication related to the ov erdentures, especially in Group B. Most of these complications (62%) o ccurred in patients with clinical signs of bruxism. Patient reactions to treatment with an overdenture were positive regarding esthetics for both groups. More negative views were recorded in Group B than in Gro up A in response to function and retention of the overdenture.