Diagnosing and Treating the Functional Problems of the Patient with Upper Single Denture - Case Report

The edentulous state of the oral cavity is equivalent to the absence of any other body part with specific morphological and psychological sequelae. This case presents a patient with an edentulous maxillary arch opposing a dentate mandibular arch. The dentist has a difficult mission in evaluating the biomechanical differences in the supporting tissues for the two arches and applying the appropriate procedures to produce and maintain the conditions necessary for long-term treatment success. The dental literature evidences suggest that the maxillary arch exhibits earlier tooth loss due to various factors and that the mandibular anterior teeth are preserved the longest, so this case focuses on the oral condition in which the maxillary arch is edentulous and opposed by a natural and partial restored mandibular dentition. The main problem is that there are important qualitative and quantitative differences between natural tooth and complete denture support: the natural dentition is capable of specialized responses to occlusal demands that preserve its function, whereas mucoperiosteal bone is not and it will respond in a variable way depending on age, sex and racial category. Therefore, the replacement of the missing maxillary dentition must provide an optimum distribution of the occlusal forces in order to minimize the negative effects in the compromised edentulous arch.