The effect of controlled oral hygiene in overdenture wearers

The effect of controlled oral hygiene was studied in 40 patients treated with immediate complete overdentures in one or both jaws. Before prosthetic treatment conservative periodontal treatment was conducted with intensive instruction and motivation in oral hygiene care. Caries and periodontal status were recorded before and 2-4 weeks (day 0), 6 months, and 12 months after prosthetic treatment. However, the patients were seen more frequently for motivation and professional tooth cleaning. The material included 44 overdentures with a total of 92 abutments, with 1-4 abutments in each jaw. Before treatment the overall mean plaque index score was 1.43 +/- 0.68 and the overall mean gingival index score 1.57 +/- 0.53, and on day 0 and after 6 and 12 months the overall mean PlI score was 0.33-0.65 and the overall mean GI score 0.67-0.97. Adjacent to the abutments there was a significant reduction of the PlI and the GI scores from before treatment to day 0 and from day 0 to 6 months after prosthetic treatment (P less than 0.001). There was a significant reduction of pocket depth from day 0 to 6 months and from 6 to 12 months (P less than 0.01). The results of this study have shown that it is possible to maintain teeth as abutments for overdentures in patients with an initial poor dental status.