Using 2 anteriorly positioned dental implants to support, retain and stabilize an overdenture is a desirable, perhaps even the preferred, method to restore the edentulous mandible. Indeed, improving the diminishing prosthodontic foundation with implants facilitates mastication, phonation, esthetics, comfort and overall quality of life. Mechanical retention of these prostheses can be improved by various commercially available and laboratory-manufactured attachment systems, generally categorized as either “stud” or “bar” attachments. This issue of Prosthodontics Newsletter looks at clinical studies that compare various attachment systems to determine if any one attachment system is superior to the rest.

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