Can general dentists produce successful implant overdentures with minimal training?

Esfandiari, Shahrokh; Lund, James P.; Thomason, J. Mark; Dufresne, Eric; Kobayashi, Taira; Dubois, Melanie; Feine, Jocelyne S.

doi:10.1016/j.jdent.2006.03.004

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Volume 34, Issue 10 , Pages 796-801, November 2006

Can general dentists produce successful implant overdentures with minimal training?

Shahrokh Esfandiari
- Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
James P. Lund
- Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, Université de Montréal, Canada
J. Mark Thomason
- Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- School of Dental Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
Eric Dufresne
- Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Taira Kobayashi
- Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Nihon University School of Dentistry, Matsudo, Chiba, Japan
Melanie Dubois
- Faculté de Médicine Dentaire, Université de Montréal, Canada
Jocelyne S. Feine
- Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Canada
- Corresponding author at: Faculty of Dentistry, McGill University, 3640 University St., Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2B2. Tel.: +1 514 398 7203x00052; fax: +1 514 398 7220.

Received 11 November 2005; received in revised form 3 March 2006; accepted 7 March 2006.

Abstract

Objectives

This study was carried out to determine whether inexperienced dentists can provide two-implant overdentures that are as satisfactory and of the same cost as those provided by experienced prosthodontists.

Methods

Edentulous elders were enrolled in a randomized controlled clinical trial to compare the effects of mandibular conventional and two-implant overdentures on nutrition. They were randomly assigned to groups that were treated by either an experienced prosthodontist or by a newly-graduated dentist with minimal training in implant treatment. Data for this study were obtained during the treatment of the first 140 subjects enrolled. The change in patient ratings of satisfaction after treatment, laboratory costs and the number of unscheduled visits up to 6 months following prosthesis delivery were compared.

Results

Satisfaction was significantly higher with implant overdentures than with conventional dentures, but there were no differences in scores for either prosthesis between the groups treated by experienced specialists or new dentists. Furthermore, six of the seven inexperienced dentists reported that they found the mandibular two-implant overdenture easier to provide than the conventional denture.