13 July 2023

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Implants and overdentures: simpler solutions that can help patients

Massimo Gagliani

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Giving a stable set of teeth to patients who have lost all the dental elements is always a serious problem. It not only concerns the clinical difficulties that the dentist must face but the clinician also must consider the needs that patients have, whether related to age, health or finances.

A meta-analysis published in June 2023 compared normal implants with implants of reduced height and diameter in supporting dental reconstructions of the overdenture type, even if it would be more correct to call them an over implant. In Italian, perhaps, removable prostheses with implant support, but a similar wording seems like a bureaucratic treatise from the land registry office.

As for the implants, there was no surprise in seeing that, whether they are regular or short and of small diameter and survival remains the same. It was surprising, on the other hand, that patients were much more satisfied in situations where the implants were small size. 

Surely the relative simplicity of insertion, the need for more simplified protocols and the relative surgical invasiveness will have all contributed to making the post-operative consequences much easier, particularly in those elderly patients who, for obvious reasons, cannot bear long sessions in dental studies.

So, what can we say? Simplification is not always the enemy of quality. On the contrary, in some situations, it can generate advantageous opportunities which, ultimately, seem to be appreciated by patients. 

Getting out of consolidated schemes can, very often, open new horizons that will bring unexpected benefits to patients who need only good masticatory efficiency.

To learn more: "Narrow-diameter versus regular-diameter dental implants for mandibular overdentures: A systematic review and meta-analysis."