An In-vivo Study to Assess the Prevalence of Most Frequent Combinations of Arch Forms, Palatal Vaults and Posterior Palatal Seal in Completely Edentulous Patients.

Introduction: Complete dentures cannot be considered a substitute for natural teeth; they have been and remain the staple treatment for edentulous patients. Over the course of the past one hundred years, there have been significant advances made in the art and science of complete denture prosthodontics. The success of complete dentures depends largely on the relation between the denture and the anatomic structures that support and limit them. Failure to have accurately adapted denture bases, correct thickness, shape and extension of denture flanges, adequate posterior palatal seal, polished and occlusal surfaces located in the neutral zone and/or balanced occlusal surfaces may result in loss of retention. In a maxillary denture, border seal in the posterior region is created by developing a posterior palatal seal. Hundreds of dentures have failed due to improper establishment of the distal palatal length and to lack of a posterior palatal seal. Aim: To evaluate a particular combination of the various arch forms, palatal vault forms and posterior palatal seal forms through this study, this may predict the success rate of the maxillary complete dentures in the population of West Bengal. Materials and Methods: An In-vivo Study to Assess the Prevalence of Most Frequent Combinations of Arch Forms, Palatal Vaults and Posterior Palatal Seal in Completely Edentulous Patients was conducted on a total of 32 patients were selected fulfilling the inclusion criteria from the Outpatient Department (OPD) of the Department of Prosthodontics and Crown and Bridge, Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Panihati, Kolkata, India during 2016-2018, in order to assess the different combinations of arch forms, palatal vault forms and the posterior palatal seal forms in maxillary completely edentulous patients with elastomeric impression material and comparing these with electronic scanning and other reliable methods. Results: The most prevalent combination found was combination 14 (tapered arch form, medium U-shaped palatal vault form and class III posterior palatal seal form). A Chi-squared test (ς2 test) was performed with statistical hypothesis test wherein the sampling distribution of the test statistic data was subjected to a chi-squared distribution. The p-value was found to be <0.5. Conclusion: The correlation of arch form with the combination types (arch form, palatal vault form and posterior palatal seal form) was found in the particular population. The most prevalent combination found was combination 14 (tapered arch form, medium U-shaped palatal vault form and class III posterior palatal seal form). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]