Prospective clinical evaluation of mandibular implant overdentures: Part I--Retention, stability, and tissue response.

Seventeen subjects with preexisting conventional complete dentures were evaluated in this prospective clinical study. Two implants were placed bilaterally in the anterior mandible. In a crossover experimental design, the conventional dentures were modified, and the retention, stability, and tissue response for conventional dentures were compared with implant overdentures that had O-ring and magnet overdenture attachments for all subjects. The study indicated statistical superiority of the implant overdenture to the conventional denture. The O-ring attachment proved significantly better than the magnet attachment for retention and stability. The soft tissue response showed a slight but significant improvement with implant overdenture therapy.