A randomized controlled trial comparing interim acrylic prostheses with and without cast metal base for immediate loading of dental implants in the edentulous mandible.

OBJECTIVES: This randomized controlled trial used resonance frequency analysis (RFA) to assess the effects of the presence or absence of a cast rigid bar splinting multiple implants in the stability of immediately loaded implants. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-nine edentulous patients were randomly divided into two groups: G1 with full-arch implant-fixed prostheses and G2 with multiple implant splinting via acrylic resin denture bases. All implants were immediately loaded. RFA measurements assessed implant stability at three different times (T0--at baseline, T1--4 months, and T2--8 months. Wilcoxon and Friedman tests and a multivariate model with repeated measures for longitudinal data were used for statistical comparison (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients were assessed (G1 = 15 and G2 = 14). Implant and prostheses survival rates were 100% for both groups after the 8-month observation period and no significant differences in the mean ISQ values were found at the different implant stability assessment times (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The different splinting protocols did not appear to affect implant stability during the 8-month observation period.