Maxillary interim overdentures retained by splinted or unsplinted provisional implants

Area of Science:

• Dental Implantology
• Prosthodontics
• Oral Rehabilitation

Background:

• Immediate prosthetic rehabilitation is crucial for patient comfort and function.
• Provisional implants offer a solution for stabilizing interim overdentures during treatment.
• Comparing splinted and unsplinted provisional implant systems is essential for optimizing outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the survival rate of splinted versus unsplinted provisional implants.
• To assess the handling and maintenance of interim overdentures retained by these implants.
• To compare the efficacy of two provisional implant retention methods.

Main Methods:

• Seventy-two provisional implants were placed in 18 edentulous maxillae.
• Forty unsplinted implants and 32 splinted implants were used in separate patient groups.
• Implant failure rates and overdenture handling were monitored until definitive restoration.

Main Results:

• A 25% overall failure rate was observed for provisional implants.
• Unsplinted implants had a significantly higher failure rate (37.5%) than splinted implants (9.3%).
• Splinted bar-retained interim overdentures demonstrated superior patient handling and maintenance.

Conclusions:

• Provisional implants successfully enable immediate prosthetic rehabilitation.
• Splinted retention offers significant advantages over unsplinted methods for provisional overdentures.
• The splinted approach improves implant survival, patient handling, and denture maintenance.