Quality of Life and Clinical Performance Associated to Implant Overdentures

Objectives: To investigate the differences in impact of mucosupported complete dentures and implant overdentures on the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of completely edentulous patients and to investigate the influence of the type of restoration on biological and prosthetic-related factors.
Methods: A total of 85 completely edentulous patients (treated at the Complutense University of Madrid) were assigned to: Group-1 (CD): Mucosupported complete denture wearers (n= 42), and Group-2 (IO): Implant-retained overdenture wearers (n= 43). Only for the quality of life (QoL) analysis, a control group of subjects with a healthy natural dentition: Group-3 (ND) was considered (n= 50). Patients completed three different QoL questionnaires (OHIP-14sp, OHIP-20sp, and QoLIP-10). Data related to socio-demographics, prostheses features, soft tissue health, and prosthetic complications, were gathered. Descriptive and parametric probes were run (alpha = 0.05).
Results: No significant between-group differences were found for the soft tissue health variables. The most common prosthetic-related complications were Need for relining (25.9%) and Unsatisfactory occlusion (16.5%). The most habitual soft-tissue complication was Oral ulcers (12.9%). Need for relining and Retention recorded significantly worse values for the CD group than for the IO group. The OHIP-14sp registered the significantly worst self-perceived OHRQoL for the control group, and detected no significant differences between CD and IO wearers. Both the QoLIP-10 and the OHIP-20sp total scores showed statistically comparable results for CD and IO groups. However, the `Psychological discomfort’ and `Handicap’ domains of the OHIP-20sp scale attributed the significantly worst QoL to CD bearers. When using the QoLIP-10 index, the `Performance’ dimension revealed the significantly worst OHRQoL.
Conclusions: When compared to conventional complete dentures, implant-retained overdentures lead to greater improvements in patients’ self-perceived QoL, thus providing better retention and less need for relining. Patients with natural dentition registered the worst OHRQoL, demonstrating the highest concern for their oral situation.