Effect of Mandibular Ridge Height on Patients' Perceptions with Mandibular Conventional and Implant-Assisted Overdentures

Purpose: This study assessed the impact of mandibular ridge height on patients' perceptions of dentures following treatment with a mandibular conventional denture (CD) or an implant-assisted overdenture (IOD). Materials and Methods: Evaluation of patient satisfaction in 63 participants was made with original complete dentures and 6 months after treatment completion with new dentures. Twenty-five patients received a new mandibular CD and 38 received a new mandibular IOD. The subjects were divided into 3 subgroups according to ridge height (low, moderate, or high). Two questionnaires with categorical responses were administered. Questionnaire 1 had 13 questions to determine patients' assessment of their original dentures at entry and of their study dentures at 6 months after treatment completion. Questionnaire 2, which was given at 6 months after treatment completion, had 11 questions assessing the change perceived by patients with new dentures compared to their original dentures. Results: No significant differences between the 2 groups were found for most of the variables in Questionnaire 1 at either time point or in regard to the difference between time points. The retrospective questionnaire 2 showed the IOD group to have significantly better perceptions than the CD group for improvement in chewing comfort, ability to eat hard foods, eating enjoyment, and denture security. The only effect of ridge height was an interaction with denture treatment for eating enjoyment, where mean improvement with the study denture was significantly less for the moderate ridge height group with the CD. Conclusion: The results indicate that patients in all ridge height groups had similar improvement in perceptions of dentures following treatment with either a mandibular CD or IOD and that these perceptions were not dependent on the bone height of the mandibular ridge. Keywords: complete dentures, implant-supported overdentures, mandibular symphysis height, patient satisfaction