NARROW AND EXTRA-NARROW IMPLANTS TO RETAIN MANDIBULAR OVERDENTURES: A SPLIT-MOUTH STUDY

The aim of this study was to evaluate the primary and secondary stability and success rates of narrow and extra-narrow implants as retainers’ mandibular overdentures. Twelve fully edentulous mandible patients participated of this split-mouth randomized controlled clinical trial. One narrow (G1: 3.5-mm) and one extra-narrow implant (G2: 2.9-mm) were placed in each patient. Data regarding anesthetics use, incision size, number of drills used, and surgery duration were obtained. Moreover, a satisfaction VAS (visual analog scale) questionnaire was answered by the surgeon to evaluate clinician satisfaction with respect to characteristics of the surgical procedure. The implants stability quotient (ISQ) was measured immediately after the implants placement (T0) and after four months of the surgical procedure (T4). Additionally, the success rates of the implants during the osseointegration period were recorded. Regarding the characteristics of the surgical technique, statistically significant difference between groups was found for incision length - which was significantly smaller for group G2 - and insertion torque - which was significantly greater for group G1 (P-value = 0.025 and 0.005, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference for ISQ values between T0 and T4 within the same group (G1, p=0.510 and G2, p=0.116). The implant success rate was 100% for both groups. Therefore, narrow, and extra-narrow implants showed good primary and secondary stability, as well as short-term implant success rates, without statistically significant differences between them, and thus seem to be suitable alternatives to retain immediately loaded mandibular overdentures.