Frequency of traumatic ulcerations and post-insertion adjustment recall visits in complete denture patients in an Iranian faculty of dentistry

Background and aims. The first few days following the insertion of complete dentures are critical for the patients since they are struggling to adapt to their new dentures. This study aimed to evaluate the most common locations of traumatic ulcerations, their frequency and also the duration and number of adjustment visits required to achieve patient comfort following placement of complete dentures.Materials and methods. Sixty patients were selected from edentulous patients referring to a removable prosthodontics department. Complete dentures were fabricated for the patients. After placement of dentures, all the patients were evaluated from the day after placement until patient comfort was achieved. Descriptive analysis was performed and chi-squared test was used to evaluate the associations between lesions, post-insertion visits and gender.Results. A total of 85.8% of patients required denture adjustment because of mucosal injuries during their first visit following denture placement. Maxillary and mandibular dentures did not require further adjustments after fourth and sixth visits, respectively. No significant differences were detected between males and females in the number of mucosal injuries in the anatomical areas evaluated in the maxilla and mandible using Fisher's exact test (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the number of mandibular dentures requiring adjustments was significantly higher than maxillary dentures in all the post-insertion appointments (P < 0.001). Conclusion. Since most mucosal injuries are located in the vestibule, adequate extension of denture flanges, especially during border molding, and use of pressure indicators that reveal over-extended borders, play an important role in decreasing mucosal injuries and improving patient comfort following complete denture placement.