SOME CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS ON RETENTION FORCES OF MAXILLARY COMPLETE DENTURES WITH THE USE OF DENTURE FIXATIVES

The aim of this study was to evaluate objectively and clinically the r elative improvement in retention forces of complete dentures with the use Of three proprietary denture fixatives, Using the UCL Retentiomete r, retention forces of ill-fitting maxillary complete dentures were me asured with saliva alone as the interface medium and with the use of t he three test denture fixatives iri edentulous subjects over a peroid of 6h. Results showed that forces with saliva alone were consistently and significantly lower when compared with the forces measured at any test period with the use of the test fixatives; A sixfold improvement in forces from the Salivary baseline values was observed when these ma terials were used. However, the test fixatives showed substantial vari ations in retention forces depending on the physical formulation df th e material. Whilst the powder variety was effective immediately after its application, retention forces with the liquid and paste materials did not peak until 3 h post-insertion. Measurements at 6 h post-insert ion Stage showed that the powder fixative was the least effective of t he three materials. This was mainly attributed to the rapid washing of the active ingredients by Saliva because of the absence of oily base present in the paste and liquid materials.