Effect of weight change of mandibular complete dentures on chewing and stability: A pilot study.
BACKGROUND
Little is known as to whether denture weight contributes to the retention and stability of mandibular complete denture.


OBJECTIVE
This study compared the jaw movements and denture retention, stability, and comfort of heavy and light weight mandibular complete dentures.


METHODS
Mandibular complete dentures of 12 subjects were duplicated using an autopolymerized polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) resin. The heavy weight denture was set with weights (20 or 60 g) and the lightweight denture was packed with wax instead of weights. Masticatory movements (3 times each) and denture stability (5 times each) were measured. The subjects expressed their denture preference for comfort and chewing. Results were analyzed using ANOVA and Wilcoxon tests at significance level of alpha=.10.


RESULTS
Masticatory movements and denture retention were not significantly (P >.10) affected by increasing the weight. Five subjects preferred the heavy denture and 4 subjects preferred light denture for comfort; 3 subjects had no preference.


CONCLUSIONS
The weight of a well-fitting mandibular complete denture did not affect jaw movements, denture stability, or patient preference.
Ohkubo
C
C
Tsurumi University School of Dental Medicine, Yokohama, Japan. ohkubo@jade.dti.ne.jp
Hosoi
T
T
D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003819:Denture Bases; D003779:Denture Design; D003781:Denture Retention; D003826:Denture, Complete, Lower; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008334:Mandible / Q000502:physiology; D008409:Mastication; D008670:Metals; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D000180:Acrylic Resins; D008670:Metals