Comparison of Different Techniques of Copying Dentures

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the dimensional accuracy of three copying techniques for a master denture and recommend a suggested method for complete denture duplication. The method advocated in this study was to reproduce copies of dentures with three duplicating techniques. The first method used in this study constricted replicas of master denture using full acrylic method (A) acrylic bases and acrylic teeth. The second method replicated the master denture using acrylic baseplates and wax teeth. The last method (C) was a full wax teeth and baseplate. The master set was constructed to include measuring points which were established by grinding holes into the original complete maxillary denture. Three measuring methods were used; articulator, digital calipers and an Alma denture gauge, to investigate the dimensional accuracy of the copied dentures compared with the master denture. The results demonstrate that none of the methods accurately replicated the master denture. The highest dimensional change was observed in method B (-0.27 %). The most accurate method duplicated the master denture was method A. With the limitation of this study, it was concluded that method A (full acrylic) is suggested to be used for copying a previous successful complete denture. Method B can be used when improvements in the fitting, occlusal surfaces and the vertical dimension is required.