Introduction: Complete dentures are known to exhibit poor stability and lack of retention. This is mainly due to the progressive resorption of the alveolar ridges in edentulous jaws. Implant-supported overdentures are therefore increasingly used in the contemporary prosthodontics. An overdenture that is retained on two dental implants is well established as a reliable treatment solution for the edentulous lower jaw. Various anchoring elements have been developed for the retention of overdentures. Implant-supported overdentures retained on custom-made bars are considered to be one of the most effective treatment solutions. Advances in CAD/CAM technology enable CNC milling of custom bars with great accuracy, the latter serving to retain the implant-supported overdentures. Aim: The aim of this work is to present the subtractive CAD/CAM approach for fabricating custom bars, the latter serving to retain implant-supported overdentures. Materials and methods: We used the descriptive method and performed a systematic literature review. Various approaches for the treatment of edentulous patients were studied. We focused on implant-supported overdentures and on the advantages of CAD/CAM milling for fabricating custom bars. Results and conclusions: We described in detail all the procedures for prosthetic treatment of edentulous patients with implant-supported overdentures. Special attention was given to the laboratory phases involving CAD/CAM milling of the custom bars and to the fabrication of the implant-supported overdentures. Conclusions: Tooth loss affects the patient's nutrition, psychosocial condition and overall health negatively. The conventional prosthetic treatment with complete dentures does not resolve certain problems associated with the edentulous condition. Such problems appear to be the resorption of the alveolar ridge and the lack of stabilization and retention of complete dentures. Recent advances in CAD/CAM technologies allow simplified fabrication of high-quality custom bars that can be used to retain implant-supported overdentures. The latter represent the currently most reliable treatment option for edentulous patients.
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