Retention of removable complete dentures made with different posterior palatal seal techniques and oral health quality of life: A clinical study

How different methods of recording posterior palatal seal affect removable complete-denture retention and oral health quality of life is unclear. The purpose of this clinical study was to compare the retention and oral health quality of life (OHIP-14) between conventional and arbitrary posterior palatal seal techniques in participants with removable complete dentures. Edentulous patients were recruited according to definitive criteria. The participants were randomly divided into conventional and arbitrary seal. After the delivery of the denture, the retention was evaluated with a force gauge dynamometer and at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. Denture satisfaction was evaluated with the OHIP-14 questionnaire. Data were statistically analyzed by using the t test and repeated measure ANOVA (α=.05). The mean ±standard deviation values (N) for conventional seal at 0, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months by dynamometer in the anterior region ranged from 4.73 ±0.78 to 4.90 ±0.81 and in the posterior region between 5.07 ±0.84 and 5.31 ±0.99. Dynamometer values for arbitrary seal in the anterior region were from 4.56 ±0.77 to 4.88 ±0.81, and in the posterior, it varied between 4.74 ±0.74 and 5.15 ±0.81. Force gauge values (N) for conventional and arbitrary seal were in the range of 18.35 ±2.84 to 20.69 ±3.89. The general mean ±SD OHIP-14 was higher for the conventional seal at 3.12 ±0.25 than for the arbitrary seal at 2.73 ±0.23 The difference between the conventional and arbitrary seal techniques was not statistically significant (P>.05) No significant difference in complete denture retention was detected between the 2 posterior palatal seal techniques. Oral health quality of life was higher with the conventional seal technique.