Masticatory performance with mandibular implant-retained overdentures

It was investigated in a clinical trial whether the masticatory performance of complete-denture wearers depended on the support for their mandibular dentures by implants or mucosa. The trial involved the provision of a new maxillary denture and either a new conventional mandibular denture (mucosa-borne), a mandibular overdenture retained by two IMZ-implants (implant-mucosa-borne), or a mandibular overdenture on a transmandibular implant (TMI; mainly implant-borne). In comparison with mandibular implant-retained overdentures, subjects with conventional dentures needed 1.5 to 3.6 times more chewing strokes for an equivalent reduction in particle size. No differences in masticatory performance were found between subjects with IMZ-implants and those with TMI. This suggests that the increased stability of the mandibular denture with implants determines the wearer's masticatory performance, rather than the support by implants.