Abstract
This study aimed to provide the actual size of the denture base which would be stable under functional movement of the cheek, lip and tongue. The subjects were 28 edentulous subjects, who visited Okayama University Hospital, Division of Occlusion and Removable Prosthodontics or were admitted in Shibata Hospital (11 men and 17 women, mean age 82.4±7.4 years). The mandibular base plate was adjusted for each subject to be stable during forceful touching the incisive papilla by the tongue tip, forceful lip pursing and maximal jaw opening. The length of the buccal and lingual flange of the base plate was measured as the distance between the top of the alveolar crest and edge of the flange at 1) median point, 2) buccal frenum point, and 3) molar point which was defined as the mid point between the frenum point and the retromolar pad. The mean bucco-lingual (Labio-lingual) widths of the base plate were 8.4 mm at the median point, 10.2 mm at the buccal frenum point, and 13.7 mm at the molar point for male subjects. The widths for female subjects were 8.8 mm, 11.0 mm, and 14.7 mm, respectively. No significant difference could be observed for the mean values between male and female subjects.
