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 middle-aged (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.