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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
Measuring the Complete-arch Distortion of an Optical Dental Impression
Published on: May 30, 2019
Oral food processing and swallowing threshold for digitally constructed complete dentures versus conventional
Abdallah Mohammed Ibrahim1, Mohamed Elgamal2
1Associate professor, Department of Removable prosthodontics, Faculty of Dentistry, Mansoura University, Eldakahlia, Egypt.
Statement Of Problem:
Wearing complete dentures (CDs) affects mastication and swallowing. With the advent of digital workflows in CDs fabrication, it is unclear whether digitally constructed CDs can match or surpass conventionally fabricated ones in functional performance measures such as swallowing threshold and oral food processing.
Purpose:
This randomized crossover study aimed to compare the impact of digital versus conventional CDs fabrication on oral food processing in edentulous patients, using the Test of Mastication and Swallowing Solids (TOMASS).
Material And Methods:
The randomized crossover study was conducted on 14 healthy completely edentulous participants; they were randomly assigned into 2 equal groups (7 in each), each participant received 2 sets of CDs: one set fabricated with conventional workflow and the other set fabricated with digital workflow that involved digital scanning with an intraoral scanner. Each denture was worn for 3 months, with a 1-week washout period. The order of wearing the CDs was randomly selected for each participant. At the end of each denture use period, swallowing threshold and oral food processing were measured using the TOMASS test. A paired sample t test was used to compare parametric data for swallowing threshold while Wilcoxon signed rank test was used to compare non-parametric scores for TOMASS test parameters (α=.05).
Results:
The swallowing threshold was significantly higher in the group using CDs made with the digital workflow compared to those using conventionally made CDs (P<.001). Additionally, in TOMASS test parameters, the digital workflow group had significantly higher values (P<.004) for all parameters compared to the conventional workflow group.
Conclusions:
Swallowing threshold and oral processing for solid food significantly improved following the use of CDs made with the conventional workflow compared to those made with the digital workflow.
