TREATMENT STRATEGY FOR IMPLANT-RETAINED OVERDENTURES

The treatment of a patient whose mandible is totally edentulous, using an implant-retained overdenture, is an efficient treatment modality which is widely described in the literature. However, the diversity and the imperfections of the protocols of clinical studies have caused the emergence of controversies regarding the treatment strategy to be adopted. The aim of this article is to present a treatment strategy for mandibular implant-retained overdentures based on a review of the literature. Faced with the multiplicity and the unequal value of the publications on the subject, the “evidence-based dentistry” approach seems best able to respond to this objective. It facilitates a critical analysis of the literature enabling us to arrive at a methodical and rigorous selection of articles. The results and the conclusions which emerge from this analysis agree with those of McGill. These data have permitted us to propose a treatment strategy for implant-etained overdentures which is efficient, safe, and adapted to current practice.