Prosthetic Outcome, Patient Complaints, and Nutritional Effects on Elderly Patients with Magnet-Retained, Implant-Supported Overdentures -- A 1-Year Report

Purpose: To study the changes in treatment outcomes of complete dentures and magnet-retained, implant-supported overdentures in a group of elderly patients. Materials and Methods: In this nonrandomized trial, 43 edentulous patients (14 men and 29 women) were fitted with complete dentures followed by implant-supported mandibular overdenture in a sequential model. Treatment outcomes used for analysis included objective assessment of denture quality (Woelfel's index), patient satisfaction, nutritional status, body mass index (BMI), and serum albumin level. The McNemar test was used to determine if significant differences in the Woelfel's index and nutritional status existed at different treatment phases. Repeated measures ANOVA and multiple pairwise comparison tests were used to analyze patient satisfaction. BMI status and serum albumin level at different treatment phases were analyzed with one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test. Results: At the 1-year follow-up, significant improvements were recorded for the objective assessment of denture quality and patient complaints (P .05). No subject was found to be malnourished at pretreatment and in subsequent treatment phases. BMI and serum albumin level were not significantly different at different treatment phases (P > .05) Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that in elderly patients with stable health and nutritional status, complete dentures made in a university clinic brought about overall improvement in denture quality and reduction in denture complaint score. Insertion of mandibular implant-supported overdentures further improved the mandibular denture quality and reduced the mandibular denture complaint score. In this group of patients, no improvement in BMI, serum albumin value, and nutritional status were documented.