Pilot Study on the Influence of Nutritional Counselling and Implant Therapy on the Nutritional Status in Dentally Compromised Patients

Objectives
To investigate the impact of implant-prosthetic rehabilitation combined with nutritional counseling on the nutritional status of patients with severely reduced dentitions.
Design
An explorative intervention study including an intra-individual comparison of 20 patients with severely reduced dentitions in terms of nutrition- and quality of life-related parameters recorded at baseline and at six and twelve months after implant-prosthetic rehabilitation.
Participants
Twenty patients from the Department of Prosthetic Dentistry of Justus-Liebig University of Giessen, with an mean age of 63 years, who had fewer than ten pairs of antagonists.
Measurements
The baseline data collection included dental status, a chewing ability test, laboratory parameters, anthropometric data (body mass index), energy supply, a 3-day dietary record, an analysis of the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) with the OHIP-G14, the Mini-Mental Status (MMS) and Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA). Six months after implantation and prosthetic rehabilitation, individual nutritional counseling was performed by a dietician. Data were again collected and analyzed. A final follow-up was conducted 12 months after prosthetic rehabilitation.
Results
Despite the highly significant improvement in masticatory ability and OHRQoL after implant-prosthetic rehabilitation, no significant changes were observed regarding MNA, anthropometric data or energy supply. Except for cholinesterase (p = 0.012), ferritin (p = 0.003), folic acid (p = 0.019) and vitamin A (p = 0.004), no laboratory parameter changed significantly during the investigation period. In addition, no general significant differences were observed for nutrient intake or food choice.
Conclusion
The present study does not confirm the assumption that the implant-prosthetic rehabilitation of patients with severely reduced residual dentitions with or without an individual nutritional counseling influences nutritional status.