Aim: This study aimed to compare marginal bone loss between narrow diameter implants (NDIs) and short implants in implant-retained mandibular overdenture patients, using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).
Subjects and methods: Eighteen completely edentulous patients with compromised mandibular ridges were categorized into two groups: Group (I) had two NDIs and Group (II) had two short implants supporting mandibular overdentures. CBCT was used to estimate peri-implant bone loss for each case at the loading time, six months, one year, two years, and three years follow-up.
Results: Bone loss means from zero time till 6 months was 0.93 mm in group (I) and 0.69 mm in group (II). And from 6 months to 1 year, the mean was 0.36 mm in group (I) and 0.43 mm in group (II). The mean from 1 year to 2 years period was 0.25 mm in group (I) and 0.29 mm in group (II). The mean in the period from 2 years to 3 years was 0.09 mm in group (I) and 0.06 mm in group (II). The mean difference throughout the three years was 1.30 mm in group (I) and 1.28 mm in group (II).
Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in peri-implant marginal bone loss between mandibular overdentures using NDIs and those using short implants, although NDIs showed a slightly higher bone loss.