Implant overdentures preferred choice for edentulous elderly
A study that looked at implant overdentures among the elderly population in Canada has revealed that edentulous patients are willing to pay this treatment option, particularly through long term financing options. Research leader, Professor Shahrokh Esfandiari from the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, explains the significance of the outcomes.
Dental Learning Hub: What influenced you to conduct this particular study?
Sharokh Esfandiari: For centuries, conventional complete dentures have been the only treatment for edentulous patients, but there has now been a call to make a maxillary conventional denture over a two-implant mandibular overdenture the new minimum standard of care. It has been shown that a two-implant overdenture provides significantly greater patient satisfaction, masticatory function and oral health-related quality of life than new complete conventional dentures. Two-implant mandibular overdentures using ball attachments have also been found to improve the nutritional state of edentulous patients. In addition, it has been shown in a recent cost effectiveness study that the substantial clinical benefit of this type of implant overdenture when compared to conventional dentures can be obtained at a relative modest incremental cost. But like most new health technologies, there is no evidence of social preference and patients’ acceptance for these implant retained prostheses. And this is what prompted me to conduct this study.
Dental Learning Hub: What were the most significant outcomes of your research?
Sharokh Esfandiari: The fact that edentulous elders are mostly retired and live on limited income, makes their willingness to pay for a given health treatment, much more interesting. In this study we found that not only they prefer and are willing to pay for the additional cost of this therapy, but their willingness to pay significantly improved when they were given the option of monthly installments.
Dental Learning Hub: Why do you think the majority of participants were willing to pay more for implant overdentures?
Sharokh Esfandiari: It is one thing to inform patients of potential health benefits of a given health technology but it is another to have them experienced it and assess their preferences then. The evidence on the clinical efficacy and the cost-effectiveness of implant overdentures is available to most clinicians and patients. However, aside from the safety and costs of these prostheses, patients now can experience a substantial increase in their quality of life when faced with improved chewing ability and enhanced aesthetics.
Dental Learning Hub: Is the elderly edentulous population aware of the treatment solutions that implant overdentures offer?
Sharokh Esfandiari: A quick and a blunt answer will be ‘no’. Elderly population may have limited access to latest telecommunication technologies (i.e. internet, satellite TV and radio). They may also have limited mobility. For these reasons, innovative health technologies may not avail themselves to this population. Plans are to be made to surpass this obstacle.
Dental Learning Hub: What possibilities are available for the elderly in Canada to pay for their dental treatment in instalments?
Sharokh Esfandiari: In Canada, like in most developed countries, elderly population is on pension plans. However, they do not have any dental coverage on those plans and dental expenses are an out of pocket expense for most of these elders. Therefore, the monthly instalments option is an attractive and more affordable option for them.
Dental Learning Hub: Will you be conducting further research on this topic in the future?
Sharokh Esfandiari: There is no plan for immediate study; however, I was approached to conduct a larger trial to assess the willingness to pay of these individuals with and more elaborate scenario so to increase the significance of our findings.
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Full article
Implant overdentures for edentulous elders: study of patient preference
Gerodontology 2008, 1741-2358
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A study that looked at implant overdentures among the elderly population in Canada has revealed that edentulous patients are willing to pay this treatment option, particularly through long term financing options. Research leader, Professor Shahrokh Esfandiari from the Faculty of Dentistry at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, explains the significance of the outcomes.
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