A case-control study assessing oral-health-related quality of life after immediately loaded single implants in healed alveolar ridges or extraction sockets

Introduction: Tooth loss reduces oral-health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) as assessed with the 14-item Oral Health Impact Profile questionnaire (OHIP-14). Objectives: This prospective multicenter case-control study sought to (i) establish OHRQoL in patients requiring a single implant in the anterior maxilla and to (ii) compare these changes following implant placement and immediate provisionalization in extraction sockets with healed alveolar ridges up to 1 year. Material and methods: Ninety-six patients were enrolled in the study with 102 single implants (OsseoSpeedt AstraTech) provisionalized immediately after placement in sockets or after placement in healed ridges. A final crown was cemented after 12 weeks. OHIP-14 was registered before surgery (baseline), after 1 (provisional crown), 6 and 12 months (final crown). Repeated measures ANOVA was performed for the seven conceptual OHIP Domains, the treatment group (extraction site socket vs. healed alveolar ridge) and time as within subjects variables. Results: Two implants failed, 1/48 (2.1%) in the extraction group (n¼46 patients) and 1/54 (1.8%) in the healed ridge group (n¼50 patients). From 82 patients (87.5%), OHIP-14 was available at all time points. The overall OHIP-14 based on the mean of the seven domains increases between baseline and 6 months and remained stable afterward for the total study group and both treatment groups. Comparison between extraction and healed groups revealed no significant difference at baseline but the healed group showed a significantly higher improvement for functional limitation, physical disability, physical pain and psychological discomfort (Po0.05). Between baseline and 1 year in the healed bone group, all seven domains improved significantly compared with only three domains in the extraction group. However, the overall OHIP-14 score between groups was not substantially different. Hence, both treatment modalities lead to similar OHRQoL improvement. Conclusion: Patients in need of a single-tooth replacement have limited OHRQoL problems as reflected by the OHIP-14 score but improvements in several domains related to oral health were evaluated when implants were placed and provisionalized in healed bone and extraction sites