title: Oral health-related quality of life of implant-supported overdentures versus conventional complete prostheses: Retrospective study of a cohort of edentulous patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This work aims to confirm if implant-supported overdentures are a good treatment option for edentulous patients and offer an improvement in quality of life compared with traditional complete prostheses (dentures).
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective clinical descriptive study included three evaluation groups: validation group (n=57); control group of patients with complete removeable prostheses (n=56); study group of patients with implant-supported overdentures retained with the Locator® system (n=80). The study also validated the Oral Health Impact Profile-20 questionnaire. Individual protocols were created that included socio-demographic data, the Oral Health Impact Profile-20 (OHIP-20) questionnaire and Oral Satisfaction Scale (OSS). Descriptive and bivariate statistical analysis was carried out applying χ², Pearson, Kruskal-Wallis, and Student t tests, transferring data into SPSS-Windows® software from a Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The OHIP-20 proved to be a valid instrument and provided reliable assessment of health-related quality of life among both the Spanish general population and edentulous patients. The control and study groups proved comparable, showing socio-demographic homogeneity. For patients with overdentures retained by means of the Locator® system, these restorations had significantly lower impact on quality of life (19 vs 33), both generally and for each individual questionnaire item, and much higher satisfaction with the state of their oral cavities (8.3 vs 5.3) than patients wearing dentures; both sets of data showed a direct linear relationship, so that as the level of impact on quality of life increased, perceived oral satisfaction worsened.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients rehabilitated with implant supported overdentures retained by the Locator® system, presented significantly lower levels of impact on their quality of life and significantly higher oral satisfaction than patients with conventional complete prostheses.
authors.affiliation: University of Valencia, Department of Dental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Gasco Oliag 1, 46010 Valencia, Spain, lucia.fernandez-estevan@uv.es.
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Estevan
authors.forename: Eduardo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Selva-Otaolaurruchi
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montero
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sola-Ruiz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D003824:Denture, Complete; D003828:Denture, Overlay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007575:Jaw, Edentulous / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D009909:Oral Health; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies