RESUMO
PURPOSE: To compare the masticatory efficiency of an All-on-4 prosthesis with complete dentures on a Class I ridge with a color-mixing analysis test. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten patients with fixed complete dentures on implants and an additional 10 patients with conventional complete dentures on a Class I ridge (Atwood) chewed a bicolor chewing gum (Hubba Bubba) for different numbers of cycles (5, 10, 15, and 20). The chewed gum was retrieved, scanned, and weighted to quantify masticatory efficiency. RESULTS: This study showed higher values for implant-supported fixed complete dentures than conventional complete dentures. These findings were significant with the color-mixing test in cycles 5 and 10 between both groups. The reduction in weight was not significantly different between the two groups but was noteworthy in intercycle comparison. CONCLUSION: Implant-supported fixed complete dentures showed superior masticatory efficiency compared with conventional complete dentures constructed over well-formed ridges in the early chewing cycles.
