A longitudinal clinical assessment of spark erosion technology in implant-retained overdenture prostheses: a preliminary report.
BACKGROUND
As adapted for the dental profession, spark erosion technology permits precise machining of retentive metal overdenture frameworks for use in implant prosthetics.


OBJECTIVE
The resultant prostheses are retentive and provide a number of benefits offered by both conventional overdenture and fixed prosthetic designs.


METHODS
Preliminary data collected from an ongoing 5-year clinical trial were reviewed to qualitatively assess the clinical results obtained from 25 spark eroded implant-retained overdenture prostheses placed in 24 subjects.


RESULTS
Throughout an evaluation period of 13.33 months (range 4 to 19 months), subject responses measured by questionnaire were uniformly good. Few complications were encountered and were limited to resin denture base/tooth fractures or retentive component failures that were easily repaired.


CONCLUSIONS
Overdenture prostheses retained by spark eroded milled frameworks offer an acceptable treatment alternative for patients undergoing dental implant therapy.
Toljanic
J A
JA
Section of Dentistry, University of Chicago, Zoller Memorial Dental Clinics, Ill., USA.
Antoniou
D
D
Clark
R S
RS
Graham
L
L
D003722:Dental Alloys; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D003819:Denture Bases; D003779:Denture Design; D003780:Denture Repair; D003781:Denture Retention; D003828:Denture, Overlay; D004563:Electrochemistry; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008409:Mastication; D008669:Metallurgy; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D012117:Resins, Synthetic; D013060:Speech; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013674:Technology, Dental; D014093:Tooth, Artificial; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D003722:Dental Alloys; D012117:Resins, Synthetic