Page 19 - Impact of implant retained overdenture treatment and speech, oromyofunction, social participation and quality of life.

Edentulism, as a chronic disease, requests treatment according to the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF, fig. 2) 1,7. In this framework, the outcome of a treatment is described in terms of three main components: Body functions and structures, activity and participation. These three components are in interaction with the health condition, personal factors, including personality, and environmental factors 1. In the evaluation of any treatment it is important to keep these factors and interactions in mind. Edentulism is not only associated with less oral functionality (‘body functions and structures’ in the ICF-model), but also with loss of social status and less self-esteem (‘personal factors’ in the ICF-model). It is hence important and necessary to take all these impacts into account while evaluating the result of dental treatments 8. The concept of oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) is commonly used to evaluate treatment in dental practice 9.It refers to the impact of the dental status on a patients’ life and can be situated in the ICF- model as ‘health condition (=dental status)’ that influences ‘participation’, ‘activities’ and ‘functions’8.
Dental rehabilitation
‘Oral rehabilitation’ refers to several levels of oral therapy, when only defective teeth are restored, the term ‘dental rehabilitation’ is used 10.There are different options in rehabilitation of the edentulous jaw. The most common option is treatment with complete removable dentures (CD). Other options are constructions connected to implants: either fixed (fixed implant dentures, FID) or removable (implant retained overdentures, IOD). In many cases rehabilitation with complete removable dentures is the first choice, predominantly dependent on the financial condition of the patient. A dental prosthesis aims to restore speech, chewing, bite and swallow functions, but also improves aesthetics and facilitates psychosocial functions 11,12. Unfortunately denture wearing reduces functional comfort compared to natural teeth and affects OHRQoL 11,12. Long time removable denture wearing increases resorption of the crestal bone of the jaw. As a result, a denture might no longer fit properly, losing its retention. Retention is the impossibility of the denture to move in vertical direction 11. To solve this retention problem dental implant treatment can be useful. The most common way to anchor a dental prosthesis is a treatment with conventional dental implants of at least 3.5 mm diameter. Long-term implant survival for dentures is in the order of 93% to 97% 13,14. To anchor the full denture on the
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Introduction
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