Abstract
The satisfaction of patients wearing complete dentures is greatly affected by the maxillomandibular relationship, and it is said that the anatomical conditions of the mandible and the stability of the denture are important for this maxillomandibular relationship. It has been reported that application of functional impression technique to make mandibular dentures suctioneffective can achieve retention and stability even in cases where the condition of alveolar ridge is poor, and that the oral-related quality of life of patients wearing complete dentures is good, but the effect on occlusion is unknown. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the relationship between the stability of complete dentures fabricated using the impression technique aiming for suction-effective mandibular complete dentures. This study was conducted at 11 general dental clinics. The subjects were 66 completely edentulous patients (average age 77.2 ± 10.9), and those wearing overdentures or single dentures were excluded. The evaluation criteria included the occlusal score and the retention and stability score by the Kapur method. The average occlusal score was 4.89 ± 4.54. There was a tendency for the occlusal score to be higher in cases where the condition of the mandibular alveolar ridge is poor. The average value for the retention and stability score was 4.77 ± 0.63 for the maxilla and 3.94 ± 1.38 for the mandible. The results of the dentist-assessed retention and stability score and the patient-reported occlusal score suggest that fabrication of new mandibular dentures with application of suction-effective impression taking not only improves the stability of the denture, but also leads to good occlusal results, and may contribute to improving the patient's quality of life.
