Selection of Posterior Denture Teeth for Complete Dentures: Criteria and Status

Denture tooth selection is based on the physical properties of denture teeth and the anatomic and physiologic requirements of the patients. There were two purposes for this study. One was to investigate criteria of posterior tooth selection in the fabrication of complete dentures at Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The other was to observe posterior teeth in complete dentures fabricated for 317 patients at this University Hospital from April 1992 to March 1993. The results were as follows: 1. Of 29 dentists, 20 considered that the primary requirement for posterior denture tooth selection was high abrasion resistance. A high-strength tooth was the most popular. 2. The distribution for the combination of upper and lower posterior teeth in complete dentures was as follows: Both high-strength teeth; 71.9%, both acrylic resin teeth; 14.8%, both porcelain teeth; 6.6%, combination of porcelain and acrylic resin teeth; 5.7%, combination of high-strength and porcelain teeth; 0.9%. 3. The mesiodistal length of posterior teeth is one of the criteria for selection of posterior teeth. In commercial teeth, the smallest mesiodistal length of posterior teeth was used in 250 of 317 lower complete dentures.