Comparative Efficiency of Removable Mini-Implant Retained Dentures Using Different Attachments in Edentulous Patients

Aim. To compare the efficiency of removable mini-implant retained dentures using different types of attachment.

Materials and methods. The study included 51 edentulous patients. The patients were divided into three groups according to the attachment type and abutment shape: 1) ball-and-socket attachment, ball abutment (n = 26); 2) locator attachment, equator abutment, XiVE LOCATOR system (n = 14); 3) bar attachment (n = 11). Removable dentures were made of ordinary acrylic plastic. The placement of intraosseous dental implants with their sublingual engraftment was performed according to the traditional two-stage delayed-load procedure. The efficiency of implants was evaluated using the method of M.Z. Mirgazizov and the eponymous index. The dynamics of vertical bone resorption around implants was determined using dental panoramic radiography (6 months, 1 and 2 years after the treatment). A periotest was performed 6 months after the end of the orthopaedic treatment.

Results. The one-year survival rate of implants reached 96.2% in group 1, amounting to 100% in groups 2 and 3. The two-year survival rate came to 92.3% in group 1, reaching 92.9% and 100% in groups 2 and 3, respectively. Inflammatory phenomena characteristic of peri-implantitis were noted one year after the implant placement in 7.7% (n = 2) of patients in group 1 and in 7.1% of patients in group 2, with no inflammatory phenomena being observed in group 3. Two years after the implant placement, peri-implantitis was observed in 19.2% and 21.4% of patients in groups 1 and 2, respectively, coming to 9.1% in group 3. The periotest revealed that six months after the placement, implant stability was higher in group 3 for both the lower and upper jaw (in comparison with groups 1 and 2), as evidenced by the shift in periotest values towards the negative part of the scale.

Conclusion. The study revealed that bar attachment, as well as locator attachment (equator abutments), of removable dentures supported by mini implants is more efficient as compared to the ball-and-socket attachment.