Comparison of Psychophysical and Neurophysiological Activities in Complete Denture Wearers and Implant Retained Overdenture Wearers: An In Vivo Study.

The present study aimed to evaluate degree of functional and physiological integration of dental implant used for implant retained overdenture and comparing these adaptive change with conventional complete denture in edentulous participants. The psychophysical method evaluated active tactile sensibility (ATS) threshold of sensory receptors of oral cavity and neurophysiological method assessed neurological changes with help of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during mastication in participants of both the groups. Mann-Whitney U test was done to compare ATS threshold and activity of sensory cortex in fMRI before and after implant installation in completely edentulous participants. Statistical result showed significant increase (P < 0.001) in activation of sensory cortex, motor cortex, prefrontal cortex, temporal lobe in participants after wearing implant retained overdenture compared with complete denture. For 200, 100, and 80 μm articulating papers non-significant change found between two test groups. The 40 and 12 μm articulating papers showed statistically significant change in ATS threshold (P < 0.05) between two test groups in 12-14 weeks. ATS threshold decreased more in participants with Implant retained overdenture prosthesis as compared with conventional complete denture prosthesis. Most of the activation was seen in prefrontal cortex and bilateral somato-sensory cortex with implant retained prosthesis compared with conventional complete denture prosthesis.