[A partially edentulous case, increased occlusal vertical dimension by prosthetic treatment].

PATIENT

A 53-year-old male presented with the chief complaint of masticatory disturbance caused by many teeth missing in the upper and lower jaws. There was extensive attrition on incisors and canines which only had occlusal contact, so the case was diagnosed as overclosure. To improve masticatory disturbance as the chief complaint, removable partial dentures were made after treating the abutment teeth. An adequate vertical dimension was planned in order to restore the worn teeth on the cast, and to arrange artificial teeth in the edentulous area.

DISCUSSION

An anterior teeth core made as an inter-occlusal record was useful and the arrangement of artificial teeth in the edentulous area useful for estimating the adequate vertical dimension.

CONCLUSION

It is important to diagnose an adequate vertical dimension by creating acast of the original tooth form in the case of prosthetic treatment of severely worn teeth.