Technique Tips: The Use of a Novel Primary Impression Technique in a Patient with Microstomia

The prevalence of edentulous patients has decreased in Western society. The Adult Dental Health Survey determined that the level of edentulism reduced from 13% to 6% between 1998 and 2009.¹ There appears to be a changing pattern in oral health status as patients are retaining their natural teeth for longer, meaning that dentists are no longer making the same number of complete dentures as our predecessors, and may be becoming deskilled. Therefore, when faced with complex patients requiring complete denture construction, dentists may feel out of their comfort zone and in need of improved knowledge and skills.

Microstomia describes a reduction of oral aperture,² which may be congenital or acquired. It may be a consequence of conditions including post-surgical and radiotherapy, trismus, cleft lip and palate, trauma, scleroderma, temporomandibular joint disorder, Plummer-Vinson's syndrome, oral submucous fibrosis or damage to the muscles of mastication.³ Microstomia makes all dental treatment more difficult, especially during prosthodontic impression taking, and prosthesis construction may even be rendered impossible. Alternative techniques include modifications to small stock trays by sectioning, or using children's stock trays.⁴