Double crown-retained maxillary overdentures: 5-year follow-up.

Area of Science:

• Dental Implantology
• Prosthodontics
• Oral Rehabilitation

Background:

• Limited data exists on implant-supported overdentures (IODs) retained by double crowns in the edentulous maxilla.
• Maxillary edentulism presents challenges for conventional prosthetic rehabilitation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To retrospectively evaluate the clinical outcomes of maxillary overdentures retained by four implants using double crowns.
• Assessing implant survival and success rates for this specific prosthetic design.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective evaluation of 20 patients with edentulous maxillae restored with four-implant-retained overdentures using the Marburg Double Crown (MDC) technique.
• Implants featured a Morse taper connection (Ankylos). Patients were part of a professional maintenance program.

Main Results:

• A cumulative implant survival rate of 98.75% was observed over a mean follow-up of 5.64 years.
• Cumulative success rate was 88.75%, with 10.1% of implants showing peri-implantitis, primarily in smokers.
• Prosthetic survival rate was 100%, with a low rate of technical complications (0.222/patient-year).

Conclusions:

• Marburg Double Crown implant-supported overdentures (MDC-IODs) represent a promising treatment for the edentulous maxilla.
• High implant (>98%) and prosthesis (100%) survival rates were achieved.
• A low incidence of biological and technical complications was noted after a mean follow-up of over 5 years.