The edentulous predicament. I: A prospective study of the effectiveness of implant-supported fixed prostheses.

This prospective longitudinal study follows the treatment of 50 completely edentulous patients who could not successfully wear their complete dentures. After an initial phase of treatment in which the prostheses of all of the patients were optimized, the prosthodontists conducting the study prescribed osseointegrated implant-supported fixed prostheses for 45 patients and an implant-supported overdenture for one patient. Eventually, three of the remaining four patients were treated with implant-supported overdentures. This article details the results of treatment for all 50 patients over a period of 11 to 15.5 years.