Aim of the study: This study compared chewing efficiency and maximum bite force between cantilevered and non-cantilevered resilient bar attachment used for 2-implant retained mandibular overdentures.
Materials and methods: Eight completely edentulous participants (4 men, 4 women) with atrophied mandibular ridges receive 2 implants in the canine region. After 3 months, each patient received Hader bar with 7mm distal cantilevers and mandibular overdenture with 3 clips (CHB group). After another 3 months, distal cantilevers were sectioned and patients received Hader bar without cantilevers and mandibular overdentures with one clip (HB). Chewing efficiency (using unmixed fraction (UF) in a colored gum) and bite force were measured 3 months after using conventional dentures CD, CHB, and HB.
Results: The highest unmixed fraction (UF) was noted with 5 cycles and the lowest number was noted with 50 cycles. UF decreased with the increase of number of chewing strokes. For all chewing strokes, the highest the UF was noted with CD, followed by HB, and the lowest UF was noted with CHB. At 30 and 50 strokes, there was a significant difference between each 2 groups, and HB showed significant higher UF than CHB. The highest maximum bite force was noted with CHB, followed by HB, and the lowest was noted with CD.
Conclusion: it could be concluded that both cantilevered and non-cantilevered bar attachments for 2 implant overdentures achieved higher chewing efficiency and maximum bite force than conventional dentures in patients with atrophied mandibular ridges.