Introduction
It has been stated that edentulism is the final result of a
multifactorial process comprising biologic and patient-related
factors.1,2 Complete edentulism has been decreased in
developed countries but it still remains as a significant problem for
elderly population that could vary from 15% to 54% of the senior
population.3 Removable complete dentures are the least
invasive and most affordable option for the prosthodontic rehabilitation
of edentulous patients.4 Treatment of edentulous
patients with full complete dentures demands many technical steps, in
which making accurate impressions is considered one of the essential
steps for complete dentures fabrication.5,6Well-fitting removable complete dentures reduce the occurrence of
traumatic ulcers and show higher prostheses wearing
comfort.7 Denture retention is vital for masticatory
function, speech and can provide a good quality of
life.8 The traditional techniques for denture
fabrication require a higher level of knowledge and skillful
manipulation of the materials, which may lead to multiple errors during
denture fabrication.9-11 Moreover, the production of
complete dentures using conventional techniques and materials such as
monomer can cause an allergic reaction to some patients, regardless of
the curing method as the residual of monomer has cytotoxic
potential.12 Fortunately, all of these problems have
become solved following the digital workflow for denture fabrication,
because milled resin pucks have very limited unpolymerized
monomers,13 dentures are made in highly crosslinked
pucks,14 and fabrication time is considerably
decreased following fully digital or even a combination of novel and
traditional fabrication.15,16 Furthermore, recent
studies have claimed higher retention,17,18fit19 of CAD/CAM than conventional denture
fabrication.
CAD/CAM dentures can be fabricated within hours, whereas using
conventional techniques can take days for
production.22 Therefore, the development of novel
technologies in dentistry is allowing the clinicians to make
restorations in a faster, easier and more accurate manner. New
techniques in dentistry have countless applications, and the production
of a completely removable prosthesis is one of
them.23,24 These novel techniques allow the clinician
the options to fabricate complete dentures in office, laboratory or at a
centralized production center.25,26 Currently, the
practice of making complete removable dentures using subtractive
technology is becoming very common, and the literature provides reports
following full digital and combination of digital and conventional
methods for their production.27-30 However, no
clinical reports are showing complex clinical situations with patients
presenting atrophic alveolar ridges. Therefore, this report aims to show
a combination method of novel and traditional methods for the
fabrication of CAD/CAM complete dentures for patients presenting with
atrophic alveolar ridges. Moreover, this workflow could be used for
clinicians with no access to CAD/CAM technology in their offices.