A fractal evaluation study of implant-supported overdentures

The aim of this study is to evaluate the bone changes in the mandible of fully edentulous patients using two implant-supported overdentures after treatment, through fractal analysis (FA).

A total of 27 patients who were treated with two implant-supported overdentures after using conventional complete dentures were included in our study. Panoramic radiographs taken during the use of conventional complete dentures formed the control group (n = 27), while radiographs taken 4 years (±1 month) after the overdenture treatment formed the study group (n = 27). In the panoramic radiographs taken before and after treatment, or during routine check-ups, three symmetrical regions of interest (ROI) were selected for each patient on the right and left sides: the mandibular condyle (ROI-1), the angle of the mandible (ROI-2), and the area anterior to the mental foramen (ROI-3). Each ROI measured 45 × 45 pixels, and the complexity of trabecular bone was measured using FA. The collected data were statistically analyzed.

The results indicated that there were statistically significant differences in fractal dimension (FD) measurements between the control and study groups for the selected ROIs (ROI-1, ROI-2, ROI-3) (P = .001). However, no statistically significant differences were found between the right and left sides in terms of FD measurements for ROI-1, ROI-2, and ROI-3 (P = .814), (P = .654), (P = .296).

Our findings suggest that the use of implant-supported overdentures leads to more complex trabecular bone structures in various regions of the mandible compared to the use of conventional complete dentures.