The Efficacy of Standard and Mini-Dental lmplants for Mandibular Tissue-Supported Implant Retained Overdentures

Introduction: Conventional mandibular dentures can pose a problem for severely atrophic mandibles in regards to lack of retention, stability, and support resulting in functional deficiencies in mastication and speech. In addition, patient comfort may be compromised. Mini-implants can be used in cases where standard diameter implants are impractical to provide stabilization of a dental prosthetic appliance. The purpose of this study is compare the long term clinical success and patient's quality of life between standard versus mini dental implant retained overdenture.;Materials and Methods: 35 patients were randomly assigned to two groups, the mini dental and standard implant, to retain a complete mandibular denture. The patients were followed for a period of 36 months and quality of life surveys were utilized to evaluate patient satisfaction.;Results: The results showed that there was no significant difference in long term clinical success and patient's quality of life between standard versus mini dental implants placed in the interforaminal area of the mandible over the 36 months follow up period.;Conclusions: There is no difference in the long-term implant survival rate or in the quality of life between the standard dental implants and mini-dental implants retained overdenture in the mandible.