CASE REPORT: AN EFFICIENT FULL DENTURE TEAM
Combining the Aesthetic and functional VITA MFT denture teeth with the copy denture technique. By denturist Darius Northey (Buderim, Australia) Leave a comment
Offering patients a functional and aesthetic solution at an economical price is crucial. VITA Multi Functional Teeth (MFT) meet the basic requirements of both, fulfilling the technical ideal and taking the economical aspects into account. The following user report shows how the denture teeth are combined with the copy denture technique to establish an efficient and economic workflow. A 89-year-old female patient presented with very loose dentures, making it difficult to masticate well. Since the dentures were severely worn, the vertical dimension was diminished and a malocclusion established. Simple relining was not sufficient, so it was decided to plan for new dentures. The patient was not driving anymore and had to rely on family and friends for transportation. This meant it was very difficult for her to attend appointments, so minimising the number of visits was important. As a result, we agreed to use the efficient copy denture technique. To accomplish an aesthetic and functional outcome despite limited finances, we decided to use VITA MFT for the setup.
Copy denture technique
During the first visit, the dentures were soft relined and border molded to condition the tissue and increase the stability. Next, the centric was obtained with the stabilised old dentures using a soft bite boxing wax to register the jaw relation. During the procedure, the centric was opened for two to three millimeters. Then the current dentures were copied using lab putty with a decent land area. After the setting of the initial lab putty base, the land area was isolated with petroleum jelly and more lab putty was applied over the occlusal area and down onto the land area. Meticulous adaption of the lab putty on the fitting surface and the teeth was necessary to make sure the dentures were copied accurately. With the silicone matrix, the copy dentures could be manufactured easily and quickly with VITA VM CC cold-curing resin, and were mounted in the articulator using the new centric jaw relation. The copy denture teeth were removed in sequence and the new MFT Anterior teeth were set according to the clinician’s aesthetic requests. Due to the integrated aesthetic rules in the morphology of the denture front teeth, the setup could be easily accomplished. The MFT Posterior teeth were then set in lingualised occlusion to generate a quick result, and to give the patient freedom in eccentric movements. The wax setups were modelled roughly in case of any changes were required during the clinical try-in.
Mucodynamic impression technique
The patient was very happy with the function and the natural appearance of VITA MFT, so that the mucodynamic impression could be taken with the new setup. The impression procedure that was selected is also used for full dentures relining. The lower denture was placed in situ and a medium body impression was applied on the borders of the upper one. The upper denture was inserted carefully and the patient asked to occlude. Then the first partial impression was muscle trimmed and removed. Light body impression material was applied to the complete upper denture base, including functional borders before the denture was reinserted. Excess impression material was trimmed away and the upper denture placed in situ. Heavy and medium body was applied to the mandibular denture and the patient was asked to occlude. The impression was again muscle trimmed, taking the movements of the tongue into consideration. After setting, the lower denture was removed, eased and checked for pressure areas before light body was applied to finish the impression procedure. Both impressions were poured in vacuum-mixed stone gypsum and then rearticulated.
Polymer transfer
The try-in dentures were waxed for the final processing with flasks and hot-curing resin. To refresh the polymer chemistry in the basal and circular tooth areas, VITACOLL was applied for a superior bond after mechanical roughening. For an individual result, a simple but very effective colour tint was used to simulate the gingival anatomy. The dentures were processed and returned to the articulator to check the occlusion. Finally, the dentures were finished and high-gloss polished.
Final outcome
The full dentures were finally incorporated and the patient was very happy with the highly aesthetic play of light and colours the natural morphology and the functional stability. With the help of the copy denture technique, the patient only needed three appointments. The efficient workflow, combined with the selection of economic denture teeth, enabled new full denture rehabilitations according to the patient’s wishes.
