Treatment of the edentulous patient

For decades the edentulous population has been unrecognized in its need to be treated in an effective manner. The debilitating condition affects quality of life. Implants have provided a strategy for developing a standard of care. The McGill consensus statement provided evidence that 2 implants supporting a mandibular overdenture should be the first choice in the treatment of edentulism. Success in implementing this standard of care into an institution's curriculum depends on a close collaboration between the surgeon and the restoring dentist and an understanding of biomechanics and bone biology.