Mandibular overdentures with immediate loading: satisfaction and quality of life.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to verify quality of life related to oral health and satisfaction with dentures. Conventional mandibular complete dentures were converted to overdentures retained by two implants with immediate loading (bar-clip system, n = 16). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Brazilian short version of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14Br) was used to evaluate the impact of oral health on quality of life. Satisfaction with the prostheses was obtained by means of a questionnaire addressing satisfaction with the present prostheses and through use of a visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: The results of the OHIP-14Br questionnaire were verified at 3 and 6 months after conversion from complete dentures to a mandibular overdenture. The satisfaction questionnaire for the mandibular prostheses obtained 43.75% satisfaction before conversion and 100% satisfaction at 1 week and 3 and 6 months after conversion. The satisfaction results of the prostheses, both maxillary and mandibular, were 68.75% before conversion, 93.75% at 1 week and 3 months after conversion, and 87.5% at 6 months. There was an immediate improvement in patients' satisfaction with the mandibular overdenture prostheses regarding stability and retention (Friedman test, P = .000) and quality of life (Friedman test, P = .001). CONCLUSION: The improvement seen justifies the immediate loading approach used in this study.

Overdenture with immediate load: mastication and nutrition.

Lower conventional complete dentures were converted to overdentures retained by two implants with an immediately loaded bar-clip system (n 16). The masticatory performance test was carried out using 'Optocal' after forty chewing strokes. Nutritional condition was evaluated by means of a Mini-Nutritional-Assessment questionnaire. No individual was classified as malnourished. The masticatory performance test demonstrated a statistically significant difference before conversion (baseline) and 3 and 6 months after conversion of the lower conventional complete denture to an implant-retained overdenture (paired-samples t test; P < 0·05). A statistically significant difference before and after 6 months of conversion for nutritional condition (Wilcoxon test; P < 0·05) was also observed. The association between masticatory performance and nutritional assessment demonstrated that a statistically significant difference between masticatory performance of the subgroups classified at baseline as nourished (22·43 %) and those at risk of malnutrition (3·9 %) was only evidenced before conversion (P = 0·006). After the conversion from a lower conventional complete denture to an implant-retained overdenture, at 3 months, the risk of malnutrition and nourished at baseline did not present significant differences in masticatory performance. Nonetheless, the mean masticatory performance potential was 19·86 and 31·98 % for subgroups classified at baseline as at risk of malnutrition and nourished, respectively (P = 0·187). The results before conversion were less favourable for masticatory performance and nutritional condition. The increased retention of the mandibular prosthesis allowed improvement in masticatory performance and nutritional condition.