A comparison of two methods for recording the retruded jaw relation in edentulous subjects

The purpose of this study on 19 edentulous patients was to compare the retruded jaw relations recorded on wax rims at the registration stage with those recorded on finished dentures at insertion. An intra-oral centre-point trace served as the reference point for both sets of measurements. Results showed the two techniques to give mean retruded positions 0.25 mm apart in the occlusal-sagittal plane, but the distributions of the two sets of results differed; those recorded on finished dentures had greater precision, with smaller range and standard deviation. The work confirms the usefulness of a post insertion check record carried out on complete dentures to minimise any occlusal errors introduced at the registration stage.