Nonadaptation to New Mandibular Complete Dentures: A Survival Analysis and Interpretation of the Time to Adaptation

To determine the average time for patients to adapt to mandibular complete dentures (CDs) and the factors associated with this critical period.

In total, 108 completely edentulous patients were rehabilitated using CDs. Adaptation was evaluated based on the following criteria: mastication, comfort, speech, and swallowing with dentures. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the average time to adaptation. The logrank test was used to assess the adaptation period and associated factors.

Of the 108 rehabilitated patients, 89 had adapted to mandibular CDs at the 6-month follow-up. The mean time to adaptation estimated from the Kaplan-Meier curve was 78.54 days (95% confidence interval [CI] 71.04 to 86.04). The factors associated with the adaptation period were previous experience with a mandibular denture (P = .032), the professional who made the previous CDs (P = .034), frequency of appearance of traumatic lesions after 15 days of rehabilitation (P = .023), posterior mandibular ridge height (P = .005), and regular use of the new dentures (P = .002).

Most patients adapted to mandibular dentures after 2.6 months. Lack of prior experience with mandibular dentures, use of old dentures made by a dental technician, occurrence of traumatic injuries 15 days after CD delivery, presence of a resorbed posterior mandibular ridge, and nonregular wear were associated with longer adaptation time to new mandibular CDs.