Association between dentures and hypoesthesia of the maxillary alveolar ridge

Objectives: Using the current perception threshold (CPT), we have reported that complete denture wearers experience asymptomatic hypoesthesia of the maxillary alveolar ridge. However, the association between denture wearing and asymptomatic hypoesthesia has not been studied in detail. This is because edentulous patients who do not wear complete dentures are rarely recruited, making it difficult to directly compare patients who wear and do not wear complete dentures. In this regard, patients who have unilateral edentulous areas located posterior to the natural teeth—the so-called Kennedy class II patients—can be easily targeted because these patients tend not to wear dentures at all. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between denture wearing and asymptomatic hypoesthesia of the maxillary ridge in these class II subjects. Methods: Twenty-six maxillary class II subjects who did (W; n = 14) or did not (NW; n = 12) wear dentures were recruited after obtaining written informed consent. A single dentist measured the CPT on the denture and dentate sides around the greater palatine nerve with the Neurometer NS3000 by using 5, 250, and 2000 Hz. The mean differences between the CPTs of the W and NW groups were analyzed using Student's t-test. Using the mean and standard deviation, we estimated the sample size under the statistical conditions of á = 0.05 and â = 0.8. Results: The CPT at 2000 Hz tended to be higher in the W group than the NW group (p = 0.93, 95% CI = -2.7–32.0). The sample size required for 80% power was 66. Conclusion: Although a significant association between wearing dentures and hypoesthesia of the maxillary alveolar ridge has not been established yet, the addition of 40 subjects to our study could achieve this. Acknowledgment: This study was supported by the Nihon University Individual Research Grant for 2009.