Effect of an implant-retained complete overdenture on the hearing ability of edentulous patients: A clinical pilot study

Abstract

Statement of problemEdentulism has been associated with sensoneurinal hearing reduction, but whether hearing is improved by the provision of an implant-retained overdenture is unclear. PurposeThe purpose of this pilot clinical study was to provide completely edentulous participants with implant-retained complete overdentures and to evaluate the effect on their hearing ability by pure tone audiometry (PTA). Material and methodsFifteen completely edentulous first-time denture wearers were enrolled, and their hearing was evaluated with PTA for air conduction and bone conduction at 6 time intervals: before denture insertion (R1), after denture insertion (R2), 1 month after denture insertion (R3), on the day of suture removal after implant surgery (R4), 3 months later, at the time of loading (R5), and 1 month after implant loading (R6). The Friedman test was performed to find significant differences in the measurements from the completely edentulous state to rehabilitation with a complete denture and an implant-retained complete overdenture. The post hoc Tukey test was used for multiple comparisons (α=.05). ResultsSignificant differences were found between R1 and R6, between R2 and R6, between R3 and R6, and between R4 and R6 in PTA in multiple comparisons (P<.05). The post hoc test revealed significant difference in the R1and R6 and R3 and R6 pairs (P<.05) at 500 Hz, 1 kHz, and 8 kHz, whereas only between R1 and R6 (P<.05) at 2 kHz for the air conduction test. In the bone conduction test, a significant difference was observed between the R1 and R6 and the R3 and R6 pairs (P<.05) at 500 Hz and 4 kHz, but only between R3 and R6 (P<.05) at 1 kHz and 2 kHz. ConclusionsThe study showed that the placement of dental implants improved hearing acuity via the acoustic pathway through air and bone conduction.