[The atrophic jaw from the prosthodontist's point of view]

The uncritical acceptance of the functional impression and of gnathological concepts are among the greatest hindrances when attempting to build full dentures on atrophic alveolar processes. To provide the most atraumatic transfer of the vertical and horizontal chewing forces from the atrophic jaw to the denture the denture bearing mucosa has to be perfectly adapted to the bony relief by the special kind of mucostatic impression as described in this article. Utterly inadequate is the jaw relation in retruded position, in which no human with or without natural teeth ever chews. This is the reason why prosthetics on edentulous jaws must observe mastication centric with freedom to the most retruded position of the mandible. In addition prosthetics on edentulous, atrophic jaws must observe the muscle grip on polished denture surfaces, the autonomous chewing stability and an occlusal pattern conforming to the masticatory movements. To this end, the author has created and developed the Condylator articulator and the Condyloform teeth.