19 January 2023

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Comparing treatment outcomes between a digital and conventional complete denture

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Background

The authors of this study aimed to compare the treatment outcomes and time efficiency between digital and conventional complete denture restorations. The teams also aimed to propose suggestions for clinical use.

The study was led by a researchers at the Center of Digital Dentistry in Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology and was published Dec. 9, 2022 in the Journal of the American Dental Association. 

Methods

The authors used a functionally suitable digital complete denture (FSD) and conventional complete denture restorations to make two dentures each for 10 edentulous patients. All the operations of both techniques before denture delivery were completed in the first four visits, and two dentures were delivered successively for the patients. The clinical and laboratory times were recorded to evaluate the time efficiency; treatment outcomes were evaluated by scoring the denture satisfaction of the dentist and patients in a double-blind manner.

Results

The satisfaction scores of FSDs were higher than those of conventional dentures, but there were no significant differences. The clinical and laboratory operation times of the FSD group were less than those of the conventional group, saving an average of 28 minutes and 64 minutes in the clinic and laboratory, respectively.

Conclusions

FSD technology can improve the efficiency of clinical and laboratory operations and shorten the manufacturing cycle of dentures. The occlusion stability of FSDs was statistically better than that of traditional dentures, but there was no statistical difference in other clinical indicators.

Practical implications

FSD technology is low cost and easy to operate and has several applications. Compared with conventional complete denture restoration technology, FSDs can save time and have a comparable clinical effect.

This clinical trial was registered at the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The registration number is ChiCTR1900021722.

Kehui Deng, Yong Wang, Yongsheng Zhou and Yuchun Sun. “Comparison of treatment outcomes and time efficiency between a digital complete denture and conventional complete denture: A pilot study.” JADA. Dec. 09,2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adaj.2022.09.016