Do mandibular implant overdentures and conventional complete dentures meet the expectations of edentulous patients?

Objectives: To measure expectations of satisfaction with implant and conventional denture treatment in 2 groups of edentulous people and compare them with their resultant ratings of satisfaction to determine if either treatment meets the pretreatment expectation. Method and Materials: One hundred sixty-two edentulous middleaged (MA, n = 102) and senior (S, n = 60) patients were enrolled in 2 trials and, after randomization, received either a mandibular 2-implant overdenture (IOD) or a new conventional denture (CD). Before randomization, each subject rated their satisfaction with their current denture and expectations of satisfaction with both IOD and CD treatment on 100-mm visual analog scales (VAS). Six months posttreatment, all rated their satisfaction with their new prostheses on similar VAS. Expectations and satisfaction with treatment were compared. Results: Posttreatment satisfaction with CD treatment was significantly lower than pretreatment expected satisfaction in both study populations (MA, P .0001; S, P = .036). There was no (or only borderline) significant difference between pretreatment expectation and posttreatment satisfaction for patients receiving IODs in both study populations (MA, P = .078; S, P = .057). Conclusion: Posttreatment CD satisfaction failed to meet patients' pretreatment expectations of satisfaction; this was not the case for IODs, for which expectations were largely met. Keywords: dental implants, expectations, mandibular prostheses, overdentures, satisfaction