A study concerning the effect of the denture set up on occlusion with respect to the function and maintenance of immediate lower implant-supported dentures.

Abstract

The purpose of this study: The purpose of this study is to compare different occlusal patterns, in several patients wearing implant-supported mandibular overdentures, by using three naturally occurring mandibular movements (lateral excursions including both left and right sides and in centric occlusion) and relate them to patient-reported outcomes. The research question:

Do patients with an immediate mandibular implant-supported denture having different occlusal patterns report an improvement in the function and maintenance? The methods used:

30 patients were selected to take part in this study. All subjects were given a standardised questionnaire (denture satisfaction questionnaire) once during their visit. Information reported through this questionnaire was analysed by a statistician using both inferential and statistical analysis. Patients were asked to bite on articulating paper (80µm) to record their occlusion. This exercise was done 3 times to record three different occlusal contacts. The patients took part in this study during their clinical review. The overall findings and conclusion: Having discussed all the limitations during this research, it can be concluded that the null hypothesis was accepted. This means that there was no significant difference between different occlusal schemes and patient related outcomes. Recommendations and Implementations for practice:

To reach better conclusions and outcomes, it is suggested that a larger sample size is studied in order to increase the accuracy in the results and in turn decrease the standard error. The occlusal schemes represented the study group in this study, which were analysed against different outcomes. The outcomes would have given a clearer indication if the 3 occlusal schemes in question were more balanced out in the number of dentures which were tested.