Edentulism can have functional, aesthetic and psychological impacts on patients.   The aim of this study was to compare any improvement  in quality of life and overall patient satisfaction following the provision of implant supported mandibular overdentures compared with conventional mandibular dentures.

122 edentulous patients had a baseline assessment of denture satisfaction and quality of life using the Oral Health Impact Profile-49 (OHIP-49), The Schedule for the Evaluation of Individual Quality of Life (SEIQoL)  and a Denture Satisfaction Questionnaire.All patients were provided with new conventional complete dentures (CCDs) that they wore for 3 months, at which point they were reassessed using the same measures.  They were then randomly assigned to either continue with complete dentures (CC group) or to have implant-retained overdentures (IODs) made (CI group).  Both groups were reassessed after a further 3 months.

They found

• Significant improvements in satisfaction and quality of life in the patients 3 months after receiving CCDs (P < 0.05).
• No further improvements in the CC group at 6 months on any of the measures.
• The CI group showed significant additional improvements at 3 months following IODs on the functional limitation, physical pain, psychological discomfort, physical disability, social disability, psychological disability and handicap scales of the OHIP and on 10 of the 11 scales of the Denture Satisfaction Questionnaire (P < 0.05, ANOVA).

The authors concluded

 The findings show that, controlling for expectancy bias and variability in baseline levels, IODs significantly increase patient satisfaction, dental function and quality of life over and above those achieved with good quality CCDs.

Harris D, Höfer S, O’Boyle CA, Sheridan S, Marley J, Benington IC, Clifford T,Houston F, O’Connell B. A comparison of implant-retained mandibular overdentures and conventional dentures on quality of life in edentulous patients: a randomized, prospective, within-subject controlled clinical trial. Clin Oral Implants Res. 2011 Nov 24. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0501.2011.02368.x. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 22111872.