Rebase

Relining, rebasing partial and complete
dentures
GJ Christensen
J Am Dent Assoc 1995;126;503-506

The following resources related to this article are available online at
jada.ada.org ( this information is current as of March 6, 2011 ):

Information about obtaining reprints of this article or about permission to reproduce
this article in whole or in part can be found at:http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/pubs/jada/permissions.asp

© 2011 American Dental Association. The sponsor and its products are not endorsed by the ADA.

Downloaded from jada.ada.org on March 6, 2011

This article appears in the following subject collections:
Implants http://jada.ada.org/cgi/collection/implants

RELINING

REBASING PARTIAL AND COMPLETE DENTURES

Ohe past few decades haveLONGEVIlY OF
ADEQUATE FIT FOR
PARTIAL OR COMPLETE

DENTURES

Quantifying longevity of adequate denture fit is difficult, because large variations occur in
bone and soft tissue shrinkage.
After placement of immediate
dentures, relining to improve
denture fit is needed within
weeks. Several months later,
additional tissue changes will
have occurred, and refitting will
be necessary again.Eventually, more bone healing
takes place and oral anatomy
stabilizes. Dentures fit relatively
well for a while. But for how long?

Some patients have almost
no observable changes in the
alveolar ridges over many
years, while most show changes
relatively soon. Patients typically feel most comfortable if
relining-rebasing is accomplished about five to eight years
after the initial fittingof dentures on healed alveolar ridges
and soft tissue.
WHEN TO RELINE OR
REBASE A PARTIAL OR
COMPLETE DENTURE

Most removable partial dentures, or RPDs, in the United
States are made from casts

Patient satisfaction could
be improved by upgrading
patient education about
the needfor continuing
oral care after denture
placement.
poured from alginate impressions. (A future article willexplore better RPD impressions.)
These partial dentures fit
remaining teeth relatively well,
but they almost never fit soft
tissues. Freshly mixed alginate
places only slight load on soft
tissues when an impression is
made. Natural teeth do not
move appreciably during an
impression, but soft tissues over

ridges do move under load.
Therefore, most removable
partial dentures that aresoft
tissue and tooth borne (Kennedy Class 1, 2 and 4) fit soft
tissue poorly as they are
finished by laboratories.
These RPDs are essentially
tooth-borne frames that rock
significantly toward soft tissue
spaces until resin bases place
enough load on soft tissue to
halt the frame's rotation.
Most of these RPDs fit so
poorly that they could use a
reline at first placement. I
suggestthat if a new RPD rocks
toward a soft tissue space on
initial placement, a reline
should be accomplished on the
day of RPD placement. The
easiest, fastest and most effective products for such relines
are chairside use products such
as Triad light curing reline
material (Dentsply); and auto
cure reline materials with relatively low exothermic activity
and good color retention, such
asTokuso reline material
(Tokuyama America). There are
others. Dentists will find that
patients accept RPDs more
readily if reline is done on illfitting prostheses when they are
placed.
Over years of use, RPDs
become ill-fitting because of
continued bone and soft tissue
changes. When an RPD rocks
toward soft tissue edentulous
JADA, Vol. 126, April 1995 503

Downloaded from jada.ada.org onMarch 6, 2011

shown a remarkable increase in
retention of natural teeth in all
age ranges. As a result, fewer
complete dentures are needed
now than 50 years ago.
However, the need for removable partial dentures has risen
in relation to patients' inability
to pay for more expensive fixed
prostheses. Removable partial
and complete dentures require
constant upkeep, repair and
eventual...