Method: The mixing ability test using two-colored paraffin wax cube was used to quantify the masticatory performance and the Locator attachment was applied for the modification of the complete denture to implant-retained overdenture for eight participants (3 men and 5 women, aged from 61 to 81, mean age 71.6). For the calculation of the Mixing Ability Index for each specimen obtained, the front and back sides of each wax specimen were photographed, a specimen analyzer (Image-Pro® Plus v6.0, Media Cybernetics, Bethesda, MA, USA) was introduced to transform the visual information into the variables. Then the Mixing Ability Index was calculated using the equation was modified to provide Korean index. To evaluate the participant-specific improvement of the average masticatory efficiency in implant-retained mandibular overdentures compared to the previous complete dentures, a paired t-test was performed using the SPSS Statistics 19 (IBM Inc., Armonk, NY, USA).
Result: The mean MAI for complete dentures was found at -2.10 ± 1.57 (mean ± SD), demonstrating a statistically significant improvement to -0.03 ± 1.38 (mean ± SD) as for implant-retained overdentures (P<.001).
Conclusion: For participants who wish to improve the masticatory function of complete dentures, the modification into the two-implant-retained overdenture utilizing the Locator attachment can be an alternative treatment option.