Effects of complete dentures on respiratory performance: spirometric evaluation

Objectives There is a lack of data regarding whether edentulous subjects should remove dentures during spirometric measurements or not. The purpose of this study is to determine influences of complete dentures on spirometric parameters in edentulous subjects. Materials and methods A total of 46 complete denture wearers were included in this study. Respiratory functions of the subjects were evaluated by spirometric tests that were performed in four different oral conditions: without dentures (WOD), with dentures, lower denture only and upper denture only. Forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow, forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced expiratory flow between 25% and 75% were evaluated. The data were analyzed with Friedman, Wilcoxon and paired‐samples t tests (α = 0.05). Results Significant differences were found between spirometric parameters in different oral conditions (p