Complete dentures: are they out of phase with current therapy?

Complete dentures are truly a full-mouth reconstruction that functions in a dynamic environment and provides the completely edentulous patient with function, esthetics, phonetics, facial support, and self-esteem. Solutions to six of the most frustrating problems of complete denture treatment are described. These solutions provide enhanced treatment possibilities and mutual satisfaction to both the patient and the practitioner.

A seminar/case-based approach to teaching removable partial dentures to predoctoral students.

This article describes a seminar/case-based, instructional model designed to simulate removable partial denture (RPD) problem-solving and decision-making processes encountered in third-year clinic in dental school and in dental general practice. Groups of approximately 20 second-year students (in the 3-year program) meet in a series of six 1-hour seminars during the first days of the course. Following the seminars, students complete an exercise on mouth preparation and multiple clasp and major connector designs on prototype casts. This is followed by survey-design exercises on casts of dentitions representing six variations of RPD requirements. Instructors assist students during the practice phase of each class. Each 2-hour practice session is followed by a 1-hour practical examination. The last day of the course is devoted to a comprehensive final practical examination on both maxillary and mandibular casts, incorporating any of the design features previously studied.

Denture tooth selection: size matching of natural anterior tooth width with artificial denture teeth.

This project, conducted by the Removable Prosthodontic faculty, compared the mesiodistal widths of the six maxillary anterior teeth with the widths of denture teeth from six different denture tooth manufacturers. Four hundred eighty-eight casts of dental students were measured from the distal aspect of each canine across the facial surfaces of the six anterior teeth with a flexible plastic millimeter rule. Denture teeth from six manufacturers were compared (370 molds). The results indicated that denture teeth are predominantly smaller and natural teeth are larger.

Denture tooth selection: an analysis of the natural maxillary central incisor compared to the length and width of the face: Part II.

This is the second part of a project conducted by the Removable Prosthodontic Faculty to compare the length and width of the maxillary central incisor with the length and width of the face. In this article, gender of the students was the main consideration. Three hundred fifty men and 138 women students participated in the project.

Denture tooth selection: an analysis of the natural maxillary central incisor compared to the length and width of the face. Part I.

A project was devised by the removable prosthodontic faculty to determine clinically if there is a correlation between the length and width of the maxillary central incisor on a cast and the length and width of the face. A millimeter gauge was used to measure the lengths and widths of the maxillary incisor on a cast. The Trubyte tooth indicator was selected to measure the length and width of the face. This tooth indicator is designed for calibration of the 16 to 1 ratio between facial dimension and maxillary central incisors.

Cross-arch bar splint.

This article describes the use of a round bar connector that will aid the preservation of bone support for two isolated mandibular canines when a fixed partial denture replacing the anterior teeth is contraindicated. If the removable partial denture is constructed with only the two lone-standing canines as abutments, the removable partial denture will move occlusally and gingivally during function, thereby generating forces that may cause bone loss. By the addition of a straight round bar connecting the two canine crowns, the abutments are splinted together and masticatory forces are directed along the long axes of the teeth.

Hemisected molars for additional overdenture support.

A preventive prosthodontic technique has been described which utilizes hemisected teeth for overdenture support. This multidiscipline procedure provides firm denture support and preserves posterior residual alveolar ridges. By retaining posterior roots, proprioceptive mechanisms are maintained, and psychologically, the patient does not seem edentulous. As Brewer and Fenton stated, "The application of this method of treatment is limited only by the imagination of the dentist."