A Case of Inferior Alveolar Nerve Perception Disorder Associated with Complete Dentures in a Patient with Advanced Alveolar Ridge Resorption

Abstract

Sensory disturbance resulting from denture pressure may be caused by advanced alveolar ridge resorption in a patient with an edentulous jaw. We report our observations of a patient with complete dentures with inferior alveolar sensory nerve disturbance due to alveolar ridge resorption associated with a mandibular canal.
The patient was a 65-year-old woman, who had begun using complete lower dentures six years earlier. She had become aware of dysesthesia of an area innervated by the right mental nerve, and also hypoesthesia, and thus consulted the Tokyo Dental College Suidobashi Hospital for oral surgery.
Hypoesthesia of the area innervated by the mental nerve, i.e. dysesthesia, and gingival area dysesthesia in response to pressure on the right mandibular molar tooth were noted at the time of the first medical examination. Medical treatments performed included denture adjustment, medications, and rehabilitation guidance to restore sensation. The hypoesthesia disappeared progressively within two months, and the dysesthesia resolved three weeks thereafter. The sensory testing method used for this patient enabled both quantitative assessment of the disorder and evaluation of the recovery process over time. Based on the features of each laboratory procedure, the author considers it to be important to assess perception disorders comprehensively.