Mandibular overdenutres, supported by osseointegrated implants, is a well established, successful treatment of partialy edentulous patients. The aim of the study was to analyse the bone mineral density (BMD) in implant site of the mandibles with ITI implant-supported overdentures when compared with the same site of the edentulous mandibles in complete denture wearers. Eight patients (4 males, 4 females) with 16 ITI implants and overdentures in the mandible and 8 complete denture wearers (4 males, 4 females) who had approximately the same body mass index and the same age participated. The BMD measurements were performed on digitised periapical radiographs with a 10 steps copper stepwedge attached to each film. Grey levels of each step of the stepwedge were transformed to optical density values and using the 3rd degree polynomial the regression formula was calculated for each film. The BMD values of each measured region of interest (ROI) were expressed in the copper stepwedge thickness equivalents. BMD values of the ROIs close to the implant were statistically compared to the same ROIs in the edentulous mandible using t-test for independent samples. BMD values were significantly higher in ITI implant ROIs compared to the matching edentulous mandible sites (p<0.05). We concluded that an increased function after the implant-overdenture treatment caused a load-related bone formation which minimizes the physiologic age-related mandibular BMD loss.

Dental Medicine