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Facial morphological changes following complete mouth rehabilitation with implant-supported fixed dental prostheses
Danni Guo1, Shenghan Gao2, Shaoxia Pan3
1Attending, Department of Prosthodontics, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology & National Center for Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases & National Engineering Research Center of Oral Biomaterials and Digital Medical Devices & Beijing Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology & NHC Key Laboratory of Digital Stomatology & NMPA Key Laboratory for Dental Materials, Beijing, PR China.
Statement Of Problem:
Complete mouth rehabilitation with implant-supported fixed dental prostheses (ISFDPs) has become a common treatment option. The application of a virtual patient in complete mouth rehabilitation is believed to have considerable promise. However, studies reporting the facial morphological changes after complete mouth rehabilitation with ISFDPs designed using virtual patients are lacking.
Purpose:
The purpose of this pilot clinical study was to evaluate the facial morphological changes after rehabilitation with complete arch ISFDPs designed using virtual patients.
Material And Methods:
Eight completely edentulous patients received implant surgery and a complete arch ISFDP. Facial scanning was performed at 3 time points: initial examination (FS1), after jaw relationship recording (FS2), and after prosthesis delivery (FS3). The ISFDPs were fabricated based on virtual patients constructed using FS2 data. FS1 was compared with FS3 to evaluate the facial morphological changes before and after complete mouth rehabilitation with an ISFDP. The root mean square (RMS) of the following segmented regions were recorded: right buccal, left buccal, right paranasal, left paranasal, upper lip, and lower lip. The linear deviation of the labrale superius and the changes in the nasolabial angle were also measured. The Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to test the difference in the morphological changes among the segmented facial regions (α=.05).
Results:
Between FS1 and FS3, significantly more morphological change was found in the upper lip region [(3.23, 2.62/3.86) mm] than in the other perioral regions (P=.012). The lower thirds of the upper lip [(3.40, 2.54/4.22) mm] showed significantly more change than the middle [(1.97, 1.07/2.61) mm] and upper thirds [(1.13, 0.90/1.50) mm] (P<.001). The linear deviation of the labrale superius was (3.18, 2.53/3.60) mm. The change in nasolabial angle was (6.48, 4.00/9.51) degrees.
Conclusions:
After complete mouth rehabilitation with an ISFDP designed using a virtual patient, the facial morphological change in the upper lip region was greater than in the other segmented facial regions. The lower thirds of the upper lip showed the greatest change.

