Histological changes in edentulous oral mucosa under implant-supported overdentures.

The microscopic characteristics of the mucosa covering the alveolar ridge that supports a complete denture have long been studied. In this paper, any histological changes in mucosa loaded by a denture before and after a denture has been anchored by implant onto the bone were followed. The results suggest that mechanical loads improve trophism of mucosa, and that fixing a denture to implants leads to a more uniform distribution of loads.