Implants provide better health-related quality of life than conventional treatment for edentulous patients

Abstract

Question: Does use of dental implants in edentulous patients result in better quality of life compared with conventional treatment? Objective To compare the effect on health-related quality of life of two treatments for edentulism, conventional mandibular dentures and implant-supported prostheses. Design A randomised controlled trial in a hospital setting. Intervention A total of 102 people were assigned randomly into either implant or conventional treatment groups. The implant group received two implants in the lower canine region connected by a short bar. Either a conventional denture or over denture was provided in the lower jaw with conventional upper denture. Patients were analysed using the intent-to-treat principle, with patients who withdrew being allocated their pretreatment OHIP scores Outcome measures An oral health impact profile (OHIP) was conducted at the initial appointment and 2 months after the fitting of the prosthesis. Results See Table 1. Conclusions Using a validated standard assessment tool, this trial suggests that patients who had implant treatment experienced more improvements in perceived oral health than patients having conventional treatment. Acknowledgements Nobel Biocare Canada, Laboratoire Dentachrome, Dentsply Canada, the Canadian MRC, Health and Welfare Canada (NHRDP) and Fonds de Recherché en Santé du Québec.