THE EFFECT OF DIET ON THE BEARING MUCOSA DURING ADJUSTMENT TO NEW COMPLETE DENTURES - A PILOT-STUDY

Purpose. This pilot study investigated the reliability of the conventi onal prosthodontic wisdom that a modified diet ameliorates soreness du ring the adjustment to new complete dentures. Tissue ulceration of the bearing mucosa served as the indicator of patient soreness as a funct ion of diet. Material and methods. Fourteen men were randomly assigned to two equal treatment groups. One group consumed a consistency-grada ted diet and the other (control) ate as they wished. New complete dent ures were fabricated for both groups by the same provider, technician, materials, and method; the study was double-blinded. Tissue ulceratio n was assessed and totaled for the 10 days after denture placement, co nstituting a soreness score. Results. Data analysis identified a signi ficant difference in soreness scores between dietary groups (p < 0.05) . Wearing time had a significant inverse relation to soreness (p < 0.0 5) in this study. A host of potential explanatory variables of clinica l interest failed to relate significantly to the outcome of soreness. Conclusions. The results of this study indicated that a consistency-gr adated diet had a significant effect in diminishing tissue ulceration during the immediate postplacement period for this group of men. Poten tially, these findings could contribute to enhanced quality of care an d to the more efficient allocation of provider-based resources.