Clinical long-term study of complete denture wearers.

Thirty-two patients initially treated with a complete denture in the maxilla or mandible were examined after 21 years. The examination included a questionnaire plus clinical and radiographic examinations. Denture function was assessed in general as very good or fairly good by the patients, but about half of the subjects also felt that the dentures needed some attention. The patients generally had a high evaluation of their chewing ability. The functional state of the masticatory system, both according to patients' reports and the clinical signs, was generally good compared with previously published epidemiologic studies. The denture quality and tissue health were far from optimum according to prosthodontic criteria. By overall judgment, 14 patients needed new dentures and six needed relining, occlusal adjustment, or repair. Tracing of cephalometric radiographs showed wide variations in bone resorption among patients.