Adaptation to New Dentures and 5 Years of Clinical Use: A Comparison between Complete Denture and Mini-implant Mandibular Overdenture Patients based on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) and Orofacial Esthetics

Jolanda Topić; Renata Poljak-Guberina; Sanja Persic-Kirsic; Ines Kovacic; Nikola Petricevic; Aleksandra Popovac; Asja Čelebić

doi:10.15644/asc56/2/4

Adaptation to New Dentures and 5 Years of Clinical Use: A Comparison between Complete Denture and Mini-implant Mandibular Overdenture Patients based on Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) and Orofacial Esthetics

Acta Stomatol Croat. 2022 Jun;56(2):132-142. doi: 10.15644/asc56/2/4.

Authors

Jolanda Topić¹, Renata Poljak-Guberina², Sanja Persic-Kirsic³, Ines Kovacic³, Nikola Petricevic³, Aleksandra Popovac⁴, Asja Čelebić³

Affiliations

¹ Ph.D. student at the School of Dental Medicine University of Zagreb and Private Dental Office Makarska.
² Department of Dental Prosthodontics, School of Medicine, University of Split, Croatia; corresponding author.
³ Department of Removable Prosthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
⁴ Higher Assistant, University of Belgrade, School of Dental Medicine, Clinic for Prosthetic Dentistry, Serbia.

Abstract

Objective of work: It is unclear how long patients need to adapt to new dentures. This study assessed adaptation and five years of clinical use, comparing complete denture wearers (CDs) and mini-implant mandibular overdenture wearers opposing a maxillary CD (MDI-OD), based on oral health reported quality of life (OHRQoL) and orofacial esthetics (OES).

Material and methods: A total of 36 subjects in the CD group (25 females) and 30 subjects in the MDI group (20 females) completed the 5-year study. All patients received new CDs, but in the MDI-OD group, four mini-implants were inserted interforaminally in the mandible before denture manufacture. Participants filled in the OHIP-EDENT and OES questionnaires one day after dentures' delivery, on the 3^rd, 8^th, 15^th, 30^th day, and at the 1-, 3- and 5-year follow-up examinations. Statistical analysis comprised descriptive methods, X ² test, independent t-test, Friedman, and Mann-Whitney test.

Results and conclusions: Both groups' adaptation to new dentures was completed within a month. The MDI-OD group had significantly better OHRQoL in all follow-ups except for the 3^rd and 8^th day, probably due to soreness and pain, the reason why the MDI-OD group had limitation in functioning in the first days after new dentures' delivery. Already after the third year and at the fifth year, OHRQoL worsened (p<0.01) in both groups. However it was significantly more pronounced in the conventional CD wearers (p<0.01) than in the MDI-OD group. Orofacial esthetics was highly scored in both groups. The scores dropped down only after three years, equally in both groups.

Keywords: OHRQoL, OES, prospective study, complete dentures, mini-implants, adaptation.

Mesh terms: Complete Dentures; Dental Implants; Quality of Life; Dental Esthetics.