Abstract Objective:

To analyze and compare changes of quality of life parameter among dental patients rehabilitated by the implant-supported overdentures with different attachment systems.

Material and Methods:

Forty-eight patients were recruited as a study cohort. The implant placement procedure was based on the results obtained by CBCT scanning and individualized surgical templates manufactured for correct implant placement. Each individual received two k3Pro Implants (Sure Type with 4.0 or 4.5 mm in diameter) at the intraforaminal area due to standard protocol of implantation provided by the manufacturer under local anesthesia. All patients were distributed between two groups based on the fact of using either Locator- or ball-attachments. Rank correlation was measured using Spearman correlation coefficient, while linear correlation was evaluated by Pearson correlation coefficient.

Results:

No statistically meaningful differences were noted regarding patients' distribution among groups considering age (p>0.05) and gender (p>0.05). Provided patient-level analysis demonstrated that increase of conventional full denture service time was positively correlated with escalation of OHIP-EDENT scores. The most prominent inter-correspondences were noted specifically between longevity of denture service and elevation of scores within "Functional limitation" (r=0.61; p<0.05), "Physical pain" (r=0.51; p<0.05) and "Physical disability" (r=0.57; p<0.05) subdomains. No statistically argumented regressions were noted between increase tendency of OHIP-EDENT scores and gender (p>0.05) or age (p>0.05) parameters.

Conclusion:

Significant improvements of quality of life measured with OHIP-EDENT were noted for both types of attachments compared to the pre-treatment situation independently of additionally provided surface electromyography-based alignment.