Survival and retreatment need of abutment teeth in patients with overdentures: a retrospective study

The retreatment need was assessed in 148 patients wearing 125 overdentures in the mandible and 56 in the maxilla. The total number of abutment teeth was 512. During the evaluation period 44 abutments were extracted. The endpoints of the survival analysis after 6 yr were 89%, taking the loss of all abutments as the failure criterion for overdentures. During the clinical examination it was found that 31% of the abutments needed treatment while the retrospective part showed a mean yearly restoration need of 17.5%. Caries was the most important reason for retreatment. These data demonstrated that patients with overdentures should be regarded as high risk patients for retreatment of abutments. Therefore a stringent maintenance program, including regular recall appointments and the application of a preventive regimen, is desirable.