Effect of degree of palatal coverage on retention of maxillary thermoplastic complete denture

Abstract

Fourteen patients with upper and lower completely edentulous arches were selected from the outpatient clinic of Prosthodontic department, Faculty of Dentistry, Ain Shams University. All selected patients were free from systemic diseases having healthy mucoperiosteum without any sign of inflammation or flabby tissues covering the edentulous ridge and their oral vestibule was free from non-resilient tissues. Steps of complete denture construction were followed in all patients where they were divided into two equal groups after the try-in stage: group I, received a complete palatal coverage of thermoplastic maxillary complete denture and group II, received a partial palatal coverage of thermoplastic maxillary complete denture. For group II patients, before processing the proposed form of the half palatal coverage was drawn on the trial denture base. A week after denture delivery, a metallic bar was cemented to the artificial teeth bilaterally, where its center coincide with the geometrical center of the denture. The retention of the maxillary complete denture was evaluated using digital force gauge device. This step was repeated at 1, 3 and 6 months after denture insertion. The data were collected and statistically analyzed by using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests.