Changes of the facial soft tissue profile in complete denture prosthetic treatment.
BACKGROUND
Assessment of skeletal tissue changes and their relationship with the harmony of the soft tissue profile continues to interest practicing dentists.


METHODS
A preliminary investigation including 11 totally edentulous patients over the age of 45 was conducted with the aim of comparing morphologic characteristics of the facial profile in edentulous subjects before and after complete denture fabrication. Lip changes after labial repositioning of the upper frontal teeth were also studied in the sagittal and vertical planes. Data were obtained from standardized profile photographs of four positions of the lips by means of photometric analysis.


RESULTS
The results demonstrated significant esthetic inadequacies of the soft tissue profile in total edentulousness compared to the state after prosthetic treatment. The change in the position of the upper frontal teeth resulted in considerable alteration of the nasolabial angle and the distance from the upper lip to the esthetic line and Np line. The response of the upper lip to the position of the upper frontal teeth was variable and strictly individual


CONCLUSIONS
The numerical results of the investigation can be used by dentists and patients as a source of quantitative information about the expected profile changes after prosthetic treatment. The proposed approach may serve as a method of choice for individual objective visualization in complete denture prosthetics.
Department of Orthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Medical University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. mira76@mail.bg
Miroslava V
MV
Iordanova
Svetlana V
SV
Iordanova
Onnik G
OG
Chaprashikian
D002508:Cephalometry / Q000379:methods*; D017267:Dental Prosthesis Design; D005145:Face / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008046:Lip / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D023861:Photography, Dental