Active Tactile Sensibility of Brånemark Protocol: A Double-blind Randomized Clinical-study

Objectives: The proprioceptive feedback plays an important role in the adjustment of fine motor control and modulation of complex mandibular movements, sensory discriminative capacities and masticatory reflex after implant placement. Objective: To evaluate active tactile sensitivity in patients rehabilitated with Brånemark-type prostheses that occlude on total mucosa-supported prosthesis.
Methods: This is a case-control double blind study. Thirty-five volunteers participated in this study. The experimental group (n=18) inclusion criteria were: Brånemark-type mandibular prosthesis and total mucosa-supported-maxillary prosthesis. The exclusion criteria were: temporomandibular disorders, inadequate implant anchorage, peri-implant diseases, occlusal instability, inadequate vertical dimension. The control group (n=17) was composed of participants with healthy complete-dentition. To assess threshold of active oral tactile sensitivity, carbon foils with different thicknesses (12μm, 24μm, 40μm, 80μm and 200μm) were placed in the premolar region. A total of 120 tests were performed per participant. The Friedman-test was applied to find the statistically significant differences of sensitivity to the six thicknesses assessed.
Results: When comparing the two groups, a statistically significant difference (p<0.05) was found between the degree of sensitivity for all thicknesses, except for 12μm, on both sides. There was a greater increase in perception in the control Group, as the carbon thickness increased. Tactile sensitivity threshold was 2.5 times greater for participants with prostheses.
Conclusions: Tactile sensitivity for patients with maxillary mucosa-supported prosthesis and mandibular implant-supported prosthesis is significantly lower than dentate patients, which are able to detect thinner thickness with more precision.