Comparative studies on check-bite and central-bearing-point method for the remounting of complete dentures

Thirty-six complete dentures were remounted both with check-bite as well as central-bearing-point (CBP) registration. The mandibular or denture position was registered in the condylar area three times with each method. Two independent operators carried out the registrations. One half of patients had their occlusion equilibrated according to the check-bite registration, the other half in the central-bearing-point position. After individual determination of the hinge axis the upper dentures were mounted by a face-bow transfer into a Dentatus articulator. A total of six registrations was performed and repeatedly compared in the condylar area in three dimensions using a computer supported measuring device. The reproducibility of the check-bite registration was 0.37 +/- 0.33 mm, with a maximum of 1.77 mm. For the central-bearing-point method this was 0.29 +/- 0.26 mm with a maximum of 1.56 mm. The mean difference in condylar position between both methods was 0.66 +/- 0.55 mm with a maximum of 4.02 mm. A third independent operator re-examined 30 of the patients 2-3 weeks after the remounting and evaluated the adaptation to the new dentures. Those patients whose dentures were equilibrated with the central-bearing-point method tended to cope better with their dentures and suffered on average from fewer pressure spots.