Abstract
Denture is constructed for esthetics and masticatory function after the loss of teeth. To obtain good retention and stability, various methods have been introduced. However in clinic, general practitioners encounter many denture cases that are very poor in retention and stability.
For this reason, the button dentures with intra mucosal inserts have been studied by many implantologists since Dahl introduced it in dental clinic in 1943.But there are few articles about the technique itself and almost no report which studied the change of size and depth of the button hole.
In this article, the author measured the dimension of the button holes of maxillary mucosa of the patient who had worn a button denture successfully for 8 years, and the following conclusions were obtained;
1. Button denture must have good occlusal stability.
2. There were no progressive mucosal inflammation and the inside of button holes were kept clean.
3. The depth of the botton hole was not changed from 5 to 8 years postoperatively.
4. There was no changed in diameter of the button holes in premolar region.
5. The diameter of the button holes became a little larger mesiodistally in the molar region.
6. The author believes that the button denture reported in this paper will keep pretty good stability and masticatory function for several more years.
