Single Implant Retained Overdenture Treatment Protocol: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PURPOSE: This systematic review was undertaken to establish the most favourable protocol to treat an edentulous mandible with a single implant-retained overdenture. The formulated PICO question was: "Which surgical and prosthetic protocols result in the highest survival and complication rates of implants and prostheses employed in a single implant retained overdenture for the rehabilitation of a completely edentulous mandibular ridge?"

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A structured literature search was conducted using the following databases; PubMed, ScienceDirect, COCHRANE, LILACS, IndeMED, OVID, EMBASE, NIH Clinical Trials for reports related to the single implant-retained overdenture treatment. Only English articles were included. Publications with a minimum follow up time of 1 year and above were included for meta-analysis. A Poisson regression model was applied to estimate the survival rates of the implant and prosthesis employed.

RESULTS

The electronic database search yielded 2083 titles and abstracts; and a total of 17 were selected for the systematic review, of which 11 studies were subjected to meta-analysis. The implants showed high estimated five and 10-year survival rates of 91.93% and 84.62%, respectively. Implants that were delayed loaded showed the greatest survival rates, while immediately loaded implants presented with higher survival rates at five (p = 0.849) and 10 years (p = 0.464) when compared to early loaded implants. The greatest number of fractures were associated with ball abutments with an event rate of 10.8 (95% CI: 10.5-11.09) per 100 prosthesis years, while locator abutments showed a greater number of maintenance events with an event rate of 16.84(95% CI:16.01-17.66) per 100 prosthesis years.

CONCLUSION

Single implant-retained overdenture treatment is a cost-effective, minimally invasive and simple treatment that can be used to restore function and aesthetics to edentulous patients, with relatively high implant and prosthesis success rates and minimal complications.