Interventions for replacing missing teeth: denture chewing surface designs in edentulous people

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Prosthodontics
• Biomaterials Science

Background:

• Patient satisfaction is paramount in complete denture construction.
• Occlusal schemes significantly influence the success of complete dentures.
• Different chewing surface designs exist for complete dentures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of various occlusal schemes in complete dentures based on patient satisfaction.
• To test the hypothesis that no difference exists in patient satisfaction between different complete denture occlusal schemes.

Main Methods:

• A systematic review of multiple electronic databases was conducted.
• Included randomized or quasi-randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) comparing complete denture occlusal schemes.
• Data extraction and quality assessment were performed independently by two reviewers.

Main Results:

• One cross-over trial (30 patients) met the inclusion criteria, comparing lingualised and zero-degree teeth.
• Twenty patients preferred lingualised dentures, while five preferred zero-degree dentures.
• A statistically significant preference for lingualised dentures was observed (OR 10, 95% CI 2.04–48.96).

Conclusions:

• Limited evidence suggests lingualised occlusal schemes may enhance patient satisfaction with complete dentures.
• Prescribing prosthetic posterior teeth with cusps could be advantageous over cuspless teeth.
• Further high-quality trials are required to solidify these findings.