Mini Implants and Intraoral Magnets for Denture Stabilization

Abstract

Edentulism remains a significant global challenge, and mandibular denture instability continues to affect mastication, comfort, and quality of life in elderly populations. Traditional implant systems, while effective, are limited by surgical invasiveness, cost, and bone requirements. Mini dental implants (MDIs) and intraoral magnets have emerged as minimally invasive, cost-efficient alternatives that enhance denture retention, particularly in patients with narrow or resorbed ridges. MDIs provide immediate stability through simplified placement and high primary fixation, whereas magnetic attachments offer passive, self-seating retention with reduced lateral stress. Their combined application yields synergistic benefits, improving functional efficiency, ease of use, and patient satisfaction. This narrative review synthesizes current evidence on the design, biomechanics, clinical protocols, and comparative advantages of MDIs and intraoral magnets, highlighting their value in prosthetic rehabilitation while noting the need for standardized long-term studies to refine patient selection and treatment outcomes.

Introduction

The text reviews the role of mini dental implants (MDIs) and intraoral magnetic attachments in improving denture retention for edentulous patients, particularly older adults with severe mandibular ridge resorption. Edentulism remains a major public health issue worldwide, and although dentures improve quality of life, mandibular dentures often suffer from poor stability due to anatomical and functional limitations. Conventional implant-based solutions and mechanical attachments, while effective, are frequently limited by high cost, surgical invasiveness, bone requirements, and extended healing times.

MDIs have emerged as a minimally invasive, cost-effective alternative to conventional implants. Their narrow diameter allows placement in resorbed ridges without bone grafting, often using flapless surgery and enabling immediate loading. Clinical evidence shows that MDIs significantly enhance denture stability, mastication, speech, and patient satisfaction, especially for mandibular overdentures. However, their reduced diameter limits fatigue strength, making them less suitable for high-load posterior fixed restorations.

Intraoral magnetic attachments, particularly rare-earth magnets such as neodymium–iron–boron (NdFeB) and samarium–cobalt (SmCo), provide denture retention through magnetic attraction. Their advantages include self-seating behavior, reduced lateral stress on implants, ease of insertion and removal, and clinical simplicity. Modern closed-field, hermetically sealed magnet systems address earlier concerns related to corrosion and tissue safety. Nevertheless, magnets exhibit rapid force decay with distance, potential bulk issues, and require careful alignment and long-term maintenance.

Conclusion

Mini implants and intraoral magnets represent valuable advancements in denture stabilization, offering improved retention, patient comfort, and functional efficiency compared to conventional methods. Their minimally invasive nature and high success rates make them especially suitable for patients with compromised bone anatomy. While current evidence supports their clinical benefits, long-term comparative studies are still needed to optimize selection criteria and treatment protocols. Overall, these modalities significantly enhance prosthetic outcomes and patient quality of life.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Samiksha N, Kirubavathy S, Dr. Eswaran M A. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.