Effect of attachments and palatal coverage of maxillary implant overdenture on stress distribution: a finite element analysis

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of attachments and palatal coverage on stress distribution in maxillary implant overdenture using finite element analysis. @*Materials and Methods@#Four maxillary overdenture 3-D models with four implants placed in the anterior region were fabricated with computer-aided design. 1) Ball-F: Non-splinted ball attachment and full palatal coverage, 2) Ball-P: Non-splinted ball attachment and U-shaped partial palatal coverage, 3) Bar-F: Splinted milled bar attachment and full palatal coverage, 4) Bar-P: Splinted milled bar attachment and U-shaped partial palatal coverage. Stress distribution analysis was performed with ANSYS workbench 14. 100 N vertical load was applied at the right first molar unilaterally and maximum stress was calculated at the implant, peri-implant bone and mucosa. @*Results@#The use of the ball attachment showed lower maximum stress on implant and peri-implant bone than the use of the milled bar attachment. But it showed contrary tendency in the mucosa. Regardless of attachment, full palatal coverage showed lower maximum stress on implant, peri-implant bone and mucosa. @*Conclusion@#Within the limitation of this study, ball attachment improved stress distribution on implant and periimplant bone rather than milled bar attachment in maxillary implant overdenture. Also, full palatal coverage is more favorable in stress distribution.

Retrospective study on survival, success rate and complication of implant-supported fixed prosthesis according to the materials in the posterior area / 대한치과보철학회지

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to retrospectively investigate the survival and success rate of implant-supported fixed prosthesis according to the materials in the posterior area. Other purposes were to observe the complications and evaluate the factors affecting failure. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients who had been restored implant prosthesis in the posterior area by the same prosthodontist in the department of prosthodontics, dental hospital, Chonbuk National University, in the period from January 2011 to June 2018 were selected for the study. The patient's sex, age, material, location, type of prosthesis and complications were examined using medical records. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyze the survival and success rate. The Log-rank test was conducted to compare the differences between the groups. Cox proportional hazards model was used to assess the association between potential risk factors and success rate. RESULTS: A total of 364 implants were observed in 245 patients, with an average follow-up of 17.1 months. A total of 5 implant prostheses failed and were removed, and the 3 and 5 year cumulative survival rate of all implant prostheses were 97.5 and 91.0, respectively. The 3 and 5 year cumulative success rate of all implant prostheses were 61.1% and 32.9%, respectively. Material, sex, age, location and type of prosthesis did not affect success rate (P>.05). Complications occurred in the order of proximal contact loss (53 cases), retention loss (17 cases), peri-implant mucositis (12 cases), infraocclusion (4 cases) and so on. CONCLUSION: Considering a high cumulative survival rate of implant-supported fixed prostheses, regardless of the materials, implant restored in posterior area can be considered as a reliable treatment to tooth replacement. However, regular inspections and, if necessary, repairs and adjustments are very important because of the frequent occurrence of complications

Prosthetic rehabilitation by double-processing technique for edentulous patient with soft palate defect after maxillectomy: A case report / 대한치과보철학회지

A patient who went through maxillectomy can have soft palate defects including oronasal fistulas and suffer from dysphagia and dysarthria due to velopharyngeal insufficiency. This defect causes the food to enter nasal cavity and creates hypernasal sound which debilitates a quality of life. An obturator can rehabilitate the substantial oral tissue defects. The maxillary obturator separates the nasopharynx from the oropharynx during speech and deglutition by closing of the defect. For edentulous obturator patient, it is difficult to obtain proper retention due to reduced peripheral sealing. Therefore, the contours of the defects must be used to maximize the retention, stability, and support. Hollow type obturator can improve physiologic function by reducing weight than the traditional obturator. This case report describes a patient with hemi-maxillectomy who recovers mastication, speech, deglutition, and appearance with a maxillary obturator using physiological border molding of the velopharyngeal area and double-processing method.