Recovery of complete denture wearer who “Has forgotten how to chew” by remounting procedure

Abstract

An elderly patient came to our clinic accompanied by his wife. The patient did not have any complaint, but his wife complained about his prolonged meal time. The patient has been a complete denture wearer for many years; he had a proud collection of dentures and brought four in addition to the one he was wearing at his second visit. Lack of the patient’s complaint is perhaps due to the fact that he was unaware of or had not accepted his own chewing difficulty. However, the loss of chewing ability became apparent upon a food test; he kept rolling the peanut on his tongue and seemed to have forgotten how to chew. Once balanced occlusion was established via remounting procedure, the patient regained chewing ability and ate a peanut without any assistance or instruction. The recovery of his sentience to chewing or biting brought him back his chewing ability. This case shows the importance of the food test and sharing a consensus on the patient’s chewing ability among the patient, caregiver, and the dentist—for “chewing and eating rehabilitation.”