Radiographic findings, ridge resorption, and subjective complaints of complete denture patients

To evaluate the relationship between the complaints of complete denture wearers and alveolar bone resorption as well as the location of mental foramina, 96 patients were interviewed. All subjects had received new dentures at the University of Iowa between August 1985 and July 1990. Panoramic radiographs had been made for all the subjects before dentures were fabricated. The amount of estimated ridge resorption correlated significantly with the number of years females had been edentulous, but no correlation was found in males. The location of the mental foramen in relationship to the crest of residual ridge correlated negatively with the number of years both genders were edentulous. Subjective need for dental treatment, as expressed by "sore gums" or poor or fair chewing ability, were the most frequent complaints among the subjects. These complaints were more often recorded with the subjects who had lost more than 50% of their estimated original ridge height than with those with less than 50% resorption, but this difference was not significant.