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ePaper created 2017-08-30, 10:20:50 | version 1.38.0
implants_industry Osteo-mucous restoration and implant- supported overdenture Authors: Dr Ugo Torquati Gritti, Dr Daniele Vrespa, MDT Buongiovanni Armando & MDT Giancarlo Riva, Italy The improvements of living conditions and medical care in the Western world have helped to increase the live expectancy in the population. The simultaneous evolution of prophylaxis in dentistry has also influ- enced the raising age, in which edentulism manifests. Nevertheless, even in the presence of undeniable im- provements in dental care there is registered an in- crease of edentulous patients that need a full rehabil- itation. Indeed, a statistical analysis carried out in the US in 1991 shows that 33.6 million people need a full denture and also points out that in 2020 this number will increase to 37.9 million people (Fig. 1). According to the US Census Bureau, in 2005 there were 5 million senior citizens over 85 years, with a forecast of 20 million in 2020.1 In Europe, the situation is not so different: Some authors report data assess- ing that among 65-year-olds there is the same num- ber of fixed and removable rehabilitations within the population (Fig. 2). The removable prosthesis be- comes more and more predominant as long as the pa- tient’s age is increasing, particularly in those patients that have a low socio-economic status and educa- tion.2 Both the economic situation and the increase of migration flows lead us to choose rehabilitations which are better affordable from the economic point of view. Prerequisite for stable dentures A mucous-supported or implant-supported re- movable prosthesis is nowadays no longer synony- mous with aging as it was in the past. Even more, one of our goals when we build prosthesis is not only to improve the masticatory function, but also be able to give the illusion of a natural dentition (Fig. 3). The functional success of full denture rehabilitation, as already seen, depends on multiple factors. Clinically, not only the correct maxillar relationship and the static positioning of the dental elements are manda- 37.9 Mio Fig. 1: An increasing population and life expectancy in the US will lead to a growing demand for prosthetic dentistry in 2020. Currently, 40 % of 37 Mio. those over sixty are fully edentulous. Fig. 2: In Italy, 30 % of the population which are more than 36 Mio. 70 years old are edentulous. 35 Mio. 34 Mio. 0 Fig. 1 33.6 Mio 1991 2020 200 Mio. 150 Mio. 100 Mio. 50 Mio. 0 Fig. 2 46 2_2017 46 implants 2005 2020