Patient-centered outcome of immediately loaded implants in the rehabilitation of fully edentulous jaws.
BACKGROUND
Edentulism often involves functional, esthetic, phonetic and psychological problems.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate patient-centered outcomes of full-arch screw-retained rehabilitation on immediately loaded implants.


METHODS
Fifty patients treated with Astra Tech(TM) implants answered self-administered questionnaires on a visual analogue scale (VAS) 100 mm scale or with multiple-choice or open questions: at baseline, 1 week, 3 or 6 months and 1 year. Changes of VAS in time were analyzed using mixed models for repeated measures, adjusting for gender, age and jaw; comparison of cross-sectional parameters between jaws was performed with the Mann-Whitney U- or chi(2)-test, all at the 0.05 significance level.


RESULTS
The median calculated general satisfaction score increased from 40.25 (mean=40.9; SD=23.82; range=0-95) at baseline to 98.25 (mean=95.3; SD=6.68; range=74-100) after 1 year. Overall comfort, eating comfort, speaking comfort and perceived esthetics improved significantly within 1 week after surgery and immediate provisionalization. This did not change significantly until the final bridge was installed after 3 months (mandible) or 6 months (maxilla), when a further significant improvement was demonstrated. The most common postoperative complication was swelling, especially in the maxilla. The importance of one-stage surgery and immediate loading was rated very high by patients before treatment, especially in the mandible. The main reason for choosing fixed prosthetics was eating comfort. Phonetics and esthetics were more important in the maxilla than in the mandible.


CONCLUSIONS
Immediate full-arch rehabilitation yeilds an instant significant improvement in general patient satisfaction and self-perceived factors related to comfort, function and esthetics. Eating comfort is the main concern for the patient and shows the highest improvement. Postoperative complications are limited and patients considered immediate loading important.
Dierens
Melissa
M
Department of Periodontology and Oral Implantology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dental School, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium.
Collaert
Bruno
B
Deschepper
Ellen
E
Browaeys
Hilde
H
Klinge
Björn
B
De Bruyn
Hugo
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000044:Dental Abutments; D003758:Dental Implantation, Endosseous / Q000379:methods; D015921:Dental Implants / Q000523:psychology*; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported / Q000523:psychology*; D003794:Dental Restoration, Temporary; D003825:Denture, Complete, Immediate / Q000523:psychology*; D004955:Esthetics, Dental; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible; D008437:Maxilla; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016474:Weight-Bearing
D015921:Dental Implants