Effect of an implant-retained complete overdenture on the hearing ability of edentulous patients: A clinical pilot study.

Statement Of Problem: Edentulism has been associated with sensoneurinal hearing reduction, but whether hearing is improved by the provision of an implant-retained overdenture is unclear.

Purpose: The purpose of this pilot clinical study was to provide completely edentulous participants with implant-retained complete overdentures and to evaluate the effect on their hearing ability by pure tone audiometry (PTA).

Material And Methods: Fifteen completely edentulous first-time denture wearers were enrolled, and their hearing was evaluated with PTA for air conduction and bone conduction at 6 time intervals: before denture insertion (R1), after denture insertion (R2), 1 month after denture insertion (R3), on the day of suture removal after implant surgery (R4), 3 months later, at the time of loading (R5), and 1 month after implant loading (R6).