The Role of Two Overdenture Attachments on The Bone Density Changes Around Implants Retained Mandibular Overdenture in Entirely Edentulous Patients

Aim: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of attachments (equator and ball and socket) on the bone density changes around implants in the mandibular overdentures. Subjects and Methods : Sixteen completely edentulous patients aged 50 to 60 years old were selected for this study. According to the treatment protocol, the patient had a mandibular implant-retained overdenture at the canine area, and the patients were randomly divided into two equal groups. Group 1: Eight patients had two mandibular implant-retained overdentures with equator attachments, and group 2: Eight patients with ball and socket attachments. The bone density is measured in greyscale (Hounsfield units) using a partial scan Cone Beam Computed Tomography (pCBCT) after one week (baseline), six, twelve, and eighteen months of the insertion of the attachment. The mean values of bone density were compared between two groups, and between the different times within each group. Comparison between the two groups was made using an independent t-test, and multiple comparisons between times were made by one-way ANOVA with posthoc turkey test (p< 0.05). Results: The results didn’t show any statistically significant difference between groups during all the follow-up times. Within each group, the readings were statistically significant from the baseline and with each other. Conclusions : The results of this study showed that the bone density around the implant overdenture increased significantly with time irrespective of the type of attachment used.