Page 137 - Impact of implant retained overdenture treatment and speech, oromyofunction, social participation and quality of life.

General discussion
This PhD focuses on the influence of implant retained overdenture treatment on speech, oromyofunctional behavior, social participation, satisfaction and impact of oral health on patient’s quality of life. In a prospective manner, the outcome of various treatment protocols was examined during different stages of the treatment up to 3 years of function. In the past research on this treatment focused on implant survival, peri-implant health, prosthetic or technical aspects. By and large, functionality of the treatment, mostly from the viewpoint of the clinician, prevailed over the patient-centered outcomes, as was reported in the WHO report of 2005 1. The current research projects aimed to give more insight in aspects that are beyond the expertise field of the dental care professional. This point of view is of great importance to understand the why, how and when of some clinical issues that may be encountered during implant overdenture treatment. This research was part of several projects performed in collaboration between dental professionals and other health professionals e.g. speech language pathologists and psychologists. The participation of a speech therapist in a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and researchers aimed to fill in some knowledge gaps around this topic for the benefit of the patient.
Clinical outcomes
Patients included in the undertaken research presented in the clinic in search of a stable solution of their edentulous mandible or maxilla. In this thesis three specific patient groups were followed in a multidisciplinary way during their overdenture treatment (resp. mandibular overdenture retained on a bar connecting two titanium dental implants, maxillary overdentures on a titanium milled bar connecting four implants, maxillary complete horse-shoe overdentures on 5-6 mini dental implants (MDI’s), figure 5). All patients were in good health and reported no neurological problems. Patients firstly received a new or adjusted conventional denture (CD) (the maxillary CD covers the palate). After surgery, this CD was adjusted to fit provisionally over de implants (the palatal coverage of the maxillary CD is removed). After a healing period the attachment system was installed in the prosthesis to connect to the implants.
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General discussion and future considerations
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