A short-term clinical trial on selected outcomes for immediately loaded implant-supported mandibular overdentures.
OBJECTIVE
This clinical trial aimed to evaluate the outcomes of implant-supported mandibular overdentures (ISMOs) using 2 different loading protocols.


METHODS
Two groups of 10 edentulous patients each were selected for the study. Each patient received 2 implants placed in the mandibular canine sites. After 1 week, ISMOs were delivered to the 10 patients in the test group, while conventional mandibular dentures were delivered to the 10 patients in the control group. The conventional prostheses were converted to ISMOs after 3 months. Treatment outcomes for the ISMOs were evaluated 1 year after implant surgery.


RESULTS
The number of appointments and time needed for fabrication of ISMOs revealed statistically significant differences between the patient groups. The requirements for prosthodontic maintenance of ISMOs in the test group were higher than those in the control group; however, these differences were not statistically significant. The mean marginal bone resorption for each group was 0.3 mm after 1 year.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this clinical trial suggest that early loading of a specific length of implants used to support mandibular overdentures does not jeopardize treatment outcomes during the first year of service.
Turkyilmaz
Ilser
I
Department of Prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey. ilserturkyilmaz@yahoo.com
Tumer
Celal
C
Avci
Mehmet
M
Hersek
Nur
N
Celik-Bagci
Emine
E
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D000044:Dental Abutments; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D003834:Denture Precision Attachment; D003823:Denture Rebasing; D003781:Denture Retention / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003825:Denture, Complete, Immediate; D003826:Denture, Complete, Lower; D003828:Denture, Overlay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome