title: Impact of fixed implant supported prostheses in edentulous patients: protocol for a systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Edentulism is a debilitating and irreversible condition described as the 'final marker of disease burden for oral health'. Therapy with dental implants is being used on a large scale to replace missing teeth and to rehabilitate edentulous patients with overdentures and implant supported fixed dentures as a method of solving the problem of instability and lack of retention associated with conventional removable prostheses. Fixed implant supported prostheses are an alternative for implant rehabilitation treatment that allow patients to have new fixed teeth. They can be indicated in partial or total edentulous patients, and they can replace single teeth, or teeth and supporting tissues (hybrid prosthesis). They overcome the limitations of conventional dentures, increasing stability and retention, providing functional and psychological advantages for the patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We will electronically search for randomised controlled trials evaluating the effects of fixed implant supported prostheses in edentulous patients in the following databases: Pubmed/MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. We will also try to obtain literature screening references of included studies, searching for trial protocols in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, reviewing International Team for Implantology conference proceedings and searching for non-published studies through Open Gray. Two researchers will independently undertake selection of studies, data extraction and assessment of the quality of the included studies. Data synthesis and subgroup analyses will be performed using special Review Manager software. Data will be combined in a meta-analysis using a random effects model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results will be presented as risk ratios for dichotomous data, and as mean difference or standardised mean difference for continuous data.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  No ethics approval is considered necessary. The results of this study will be disseminated via peer reviewed publications and social networks.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  CRD42015022086.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Carolina S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: López
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
authors.forename: Constanza H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Saka
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Evidence-based Health Care Program, Faculty of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Epistemonikos foundation, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rada
authors.affiliation: Centro de rehabilitación oral avanzada e implantología (CRAI), Universidad de Concepción, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Daniela D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
mesh_terms: D019094:Dental Prosthesis, Implant-Supported; D006801:Humans; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000601:surgery*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D000078202:Systematic Reviews as Topic
keywords: GERIATRIC MEDICINE; ORAL MEDICINE; REHABILITATION MEDICINE; THERAPEUTICS