Meeting abstract
Dentures for Elderly Persons - from Hard to Soft
T. Hamada
Abstract
The oral condition of edentulous patients today appears to be different from that of 30 years ago. In particular, the alveolar bone is highly resorbed, the oral mucosa is thiner, and saliva flow and oral perception are deteriorating. About 30 years ago, it was proposed that soft denture base materials should be tisue-friendly, and in fact, a lot of products of this kind have come to meet this requirement. On the other hand, in clinics, rigid materials have been used in most cases because they have given a high priority to durability. This seemed appropriate as long as the patients are in good health. However, as the number of aged persons has increased, more and more patients have become unable to cope with the hard material. Under these circumstances, soft lining materials are highly desirable. This was previously commonly denied because of the poor quality of soft materials, -but, modern soft lining materials have recently become much better, so when they are used appropriately, they are much more effective then in the past. It is confirmed that the application of soft liners having viscoelastic properties would lead to the most marked improvement in masticatory function. The improvement in masticatory function compared with hard resin was found to be in the order: acrylic resilient>silicone resilient>acrylic tisue conditioner. The results suggest that the use of materials with higher tan δ (loss tangent, viscoelastic property) and G’ (shear storage modulus, hardness) provides the most optimum masticatory function for the patients requiring the provision of soft liner on their dentures. Our goal is to tansfer the dentures into the museum
during the 21st century. Until we achieve this, soft liners will fill gap between denture and tissue, and between satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the dentures. Although, it is true that edentulism is decreasing, I still believe as well that the soft option is useful and can help to satisfy edentulous patients for 2 or 3 more decades.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
10015
URI
Publication date:
15.9.2002.
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